A Lesson in Modification (1): The Saiyan Saga Fluctuation
by Saria Skye
Summary: Rinka was living a relatively normal, if secluded life in the forests of Mount Paozu. Until the day an alien claiming to be her uncle stormed into their lives, kidnapping her and her younger brother! This resulting in the sudden, unexpected death of her father. Now, with two even stronger aliens on their way, will Rinka be able to make a difference in the fight to defend her home?
1. A Quick Introduction

So, before we get started, I just had a couple of notes I wanted to let potential readers know about to possibly save them time and effort. For example, I know that this idea has been done a lot before, and probably by people who are more talented than I am, but I've done some research and have noticed a lot of similarities in stories like this. I just wanted to point out that I'm planning on doing a few things differently compared to what I've read in these other stories:

**Number 1:** My character is older than Gohan by a couple of years. Not younger and not a twin. I know that it doesn't necessarily make sense within the Dragon Ball timeline, but when does anything really make sense in this show?

**Number 2:** My character does _not_ train with Piccolo during the Saiyan Saga. We barely get to see what's happening with the others during the yearlong training period, so I think her training at the Lookout offers a unique perspective that hasn't really been explored.

**Number 3:** I'm trying very hard to not make her too OP, or overshadow any of the other characters, especially Gohan. I'll do my best to keep her power at a level that makes sense, but also not being total weak-sauce. Balance is key, because no one wants a Mary Sue or a Plain Jane.

**Number 4:** I'm going to be adding some serious fluff and hopefully plenty of humor! Not that there isn't some funny parts in this show, but I want more! I've also wanted more touchy-feely parts in this show for years, but we hardly get anything! I know that Toriyama says he doesn't want to write romance and such, but I wants some feels, dang it! And if I have to write them myself, then so be it!

**Number 5:** Krillin is my favorite Dragon Ball character. One of my favorite characters of all time, in fact, and I personally feel that he is criminally underrated! So Krillin fans rejoice, because this story has a lot of him in it. I think he deserves the love!

So, if this is something you think you'd be interested in checking out, great! I'd love to know your opinions. Otherwise, if you aren't a Krillin fan, or are just tired of this kind of story, then that's totally understandable, and you won't have to waste your time skimming to see if it's worth reading. Anyway, onto the mandatory expositional chapters!


	2. A Lost Hat and a Not So Chance Encounter

"Gohan! Rinka!" Chi Chi called into the forest surrounding their home. "It's time to come in! Gohan! Rinka!" she called again, louder when there was no response.

Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, their father Goku was leaping through the trees. He was busy looking for the perfect oak to chop down to make into firewood for his family.

"Hey kids, answer me!" Chi Chi hollered once again.

"Yes mother, I'm coming!" Rinka, their first-born daughter, answered from the edge of the clearing. She wandered out of the trees and up to her mom.

The girl was dressed in a little, blue kimono with a red sash. Her obsidian hair done up in a neat bun on top of her head, similar in fashion to her mother. Her shorter bangs framing her face, combed perfectly straight.

"There you are!" Chi Chi exclaimed, but then looked around. She furrowed her brow when she realized that her younger son, Gohan, was no where to be found. "Rinka, where is your brother?" she demanded. "You were supposed to be keeping an eye on him!" she lectured.

"I was, I –" Rinka turned to glance around. She looked confused as well when she realized Gohan wasn't with her. "I thought he was right behind me. That's weird," she offered casually.

Their conversation was cut short when her father came tromping into view carrying a massive log over his head.

"Goku? You think you got enough firewood there?" Chi Chi asked him. He dropped the log with a thud right next to their house.

"Yeah! This should last us a while. Don't you think?" he wondered.

"Ugh, you're going to hurt yourself doing that one of these days," Chi Chi lectured him.

"Oh, I'm fine," he assured her. Rinka ran up to her father, grabbing him around the leg.

"Hey daddy! When are you going to teach me to be able to carry that much?" she asked, pushing against him and causing him to wobble.

"Whoa!" he said, before bending down and snatching her up in his arms. "I don't know, Rin. You're pretty strong already," he told her.

"Yeah, but, I wanna be as strong as you someday!" she boasted.

"That isn't going to happen!" her mother snapped. "You've taught her too much as it is, Goku. Learning to defend yourself is one thing, but you can't spend all of your time training. Both you and your brother have studying to do. Your education is very important for you to have a successful future!" Rinka just rolled her eyes at her mother's ceaseless nagging.

"By the way, where is Gohan?" Goku asked, after he glanced around and was unable to find him.

"That's what we were trying to figure out. Where did you last see him, Rinka?" her mother asked her.

"We were playing over there by the stream," she motioned in the direction that she had just come from. "We heard you calling, so we heading for home, and I thought he was right behind me," she explained.

"Goku, I think you better go find him. You're all supposed to be at Master Roshi's pretty soon," Chi Chi reminded him.

"Oh yeah! That's right!" he exclaimed, placing his daughter back onto the ground.

"You'd better take the flying Nimbus. You don't wanna be late for your reunion," Chi Chi suggested.

"Okay, bye Chi Chi! Come on Rin!" Goku called as he ran back into the forest.

"Right behind you!" she said excitedly, and hurried after him. But in her haste, she accidentally stumbled and tripped over the edge of her kimono.

"Rinka! Be careful!" her mother yelled after her.

"Sorry mom," she said, rising and dusting herself off. Stupid kimono! She could barely move in the thing, which was why she usually hated wearing it!

Goku waited a moment for her to catch up, before they headed off towards where Rinka had last seen her brother.

"So, where were you playing?" he asked her.

"Just, over there." She pointed towards a clearing.

Goku scanned the area, but wasn't able to find anything. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure," she snapped back.

"Hmmm, he must've wandered off then. You should know better than to let him get lost like that. You're his older sister, after all. He looks up to you," her father lightly scolded.

"I'm sorry daddy," Rinka said, shamefaced. "I didn't mean to."

"I know. Don't worry. We'll find him," he reassured her.

As they continued searching, a flash of red peaking through the bushes suddenly caught Rinka's eye. It was Gohan's hat!

"Dad, look, over there!" she exclaimed and pointed at it. But instead of Gohan being in his hat, it was being worn by a saber-tooth tiger of all things!

"Hey, you, that hat!" Goku called to it, getting it's attention.

"Yipe!" it said, it's fur going all bristly. It then slowly turned and began to creep towards Goku and Rinka.

"That's Gohan's!" Goku realized as the tiger started looking vicious and growling at them.

"That's my brother's hat! Where did you get it, you big bully?!" Rinka snapped angerly at him, but he just continued to snarl. "I swear, if you've hurt him!" she yelled at the big cat.

It suddenly jumped at her angry tone, and looked nervous and confused at the fact that she wasn't scared of him. The hat then slowly slipped off his head, and he darted back into the woods, deciding that he didn't want to mess with this crazy girl, or her father.

Rinka darted over and snatched up the hat. Turning back to see a serious expression on her dad's face.

"We're not getting anywhere on foot!" he decided. "Nimbus!" he called out to the sky, and as if by magic, a bright yellow, fluffy cloud suddenly zoomed down and stopped right next to him. "Let's go!" he said, leaping onto the cloud and Rinka hopping up behind him.

They both kept a close eye on the landscape below as they zoomed along, looking for any sign of Gohan. And continually calling out his name as they went.

It was when they were hovering over a river that they finally heard a response. "Daddy!" came the sound of crying from below them.

"Gohan!" Goku called when he spotted him. He was clinging to a log that was rapidly getting pulled down river. How on earth had he managed to get into this situation?

Rinka gasped when he suddenly lost his grip and went under, only to resurface a moment later. She breathed out a sigh.

"Hang on, son! I'll be right there!" Goku told him.

He swooped down until he was right above Gohan, and reached down to try and grab him. Rinka was clutching to him tightly in order to keep from falling into the river herself!

"Just a little farther," her father strained.

Rinka glanced up to see that they were rapidly approaching the side of a mountain, with the river running into a cave underneath it.

"Dad, look out!" she yelled, drawing his attention to the rock wall.

He looked up in surprise before veering up and out of danger. Meanwhile, Gohan slipped into the cave and out of reach.

"Daddy!" he cried as his disappeared.

"Hang on, Gohan!" Goku said, as they headed up and over.

They came around the top just in time to see Gohan plummet over the waterfall that was waiting on the other side! Goku gasped in surprise.

"Oh no, Gohan!" Rinka hollered out.

They zoomed after him, but were too late to reach the log before it crashed into the pool below. They both starting calling for him again, Rinka frantically scanning the water for any sign of him. Her father was about to jump into the pool to search underwater, before a sudden wailing caught their attention. They both glanced up to see Gohan clinging to a branch and bawling high over the waterfall.

"What? How?" Rinka wondered.

"Help! I'm stuck! I can't get down!" Gohan cried as Goku brought the Nimbus up right in front of him.

"Uh, Gohan? You can let go now," Rinka told him, a bit of mocking to her tone.

He looked up to see them and immediately dove into their father's awaiting arms.

"Daddy! Oh, thank you daddy! I was so scared," he cried into his chest.

"Gohan, how do you get yourself into these situations?" Rinka asked him.

"You – you left me, and then I got lost!" he wailed.

"Ugh! We were supposed to be going home. It's not my fault you get distracted and wander off!" she snapped. But then he looked up at her with bleary, tear filled eyes, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Gohan. I'll try to be better about looking out for you from now on," she promised. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Yeah, but – how'd you get all the way up here?" their father asked him. He glanced back down to the water below them. "Hmm, that's strange."

"Daddy," Gohan said, then paused for a moment. "I lost my hat," he admitted shamefully. Goku responded by plopping the hat back on his head with a grin.

"What? Silly! No you didn't. It's on your head. Now, let's go get you cleaned up. Then you and Rin can come with me to meet all my friends at Master Roshi's!" Goku told him excitedly. Gohan gave him a big smile. "That's my boy," he praised.

Rinka had to admit that she was pretty excited about getting to go meet her father's friends. She'd heard a lot about them growing up, and the idea of actually getting to meet some new people had her psyched! Especially since they seemed to have a penchant for going on adventures.

. . .

A little while later, they were all on their way across the ocean to Master Roshi's island. Gohan was laughing merrily as they zoomed through the air. Rinka always loved riding on the Nimbus. While she was able to fly on her own, she was no where near this fast yet!

"Here we are, you guys!" Goku told them right before they touched down on the little island. Goku leapt off the Nimbus with Gohan in his arms, Rinka right on his heels, as usual.

It was occupied by a single little, pink house that had the word KAME written across the front of it. There was a capsule ship already parked in front. Rinka felt her stomach do a little flip. She was excited, but also nervous. She really hoped her dad's friends would liker her.

"Hey, is anyone home?" her father called into the open front door.

Two people suddenly came running outside with big grins on their faces. One was a tall lady with bright blue hair that was cut in a short bob. The other was a short guy that had no hair. He was dressed in an outfit similar to her dad's, and had six dots running up his forehead. Rinka was able to recognize them from a picture her father had shown her – Bulma and Krillin.

"Goku!" They exclaimed merrily. They were quickly joined by a bald, old man, who Rinka knew to be Master Roshi.

"Hi!" he greeted back.

Gohan clung tighter to his dad and stared at the strangers with nervous eyes. Rinka just stood next to father, smiling quietly at them. They all seemed to look a bit confused.

"Hey, who are the kids?" Bulma wondered.

"You trying to ear some extra cash babysitting or something?" Krillin guessed.

"Actually, this is my son and daughter," he explained proudly.

They all suddenly looked very shocked and confused at this news. Rinka looked up at her dad with a questioning glance. When was the last time he'd spoken to them? Had he really never told his friends that he had kids?

"What?! These are your kids?!" Master Roshi hollered out.

"Pretty wild, huh?" he said, setting Gohan down.

"Wow," Krillin breathed out.

"Oh, Goku! They're adorable!" Bulma praised. Rinka took that as her cue and took a couple steps forward.

"Hello, my name is Rinka. It's nice to meet you," she said politely, giving them a small bow.

"Oh my gosh! You're just the spitting image of Chi Chi when she was little. How cute!" Bulma told her as she bent down to get a better look.

Rinka wasn't sure how much she liked being compared to her mother, but she smiled back anyway.

Meanwhile, Gohan was shyly hiding behind his dad, clinging to his pant leg.

"Say hi, Gohan," their dad encouraged him.

"Uh, hello – everyone," he greeted awkwardly, only coming out from behind him a bit.

"Hello," they answered back.

"And this is Gohan," Goku announced to them.

"Huh? Gohan?" Master Roshi questioned. "I see. You named him after your grandfather, did ya?"

"Uh huh," Goku acknowledged.

"Well, that's wonderful. They are fine looking kids, I'm sure your grandpa would have been very proud," Master Roshi assured him.

Bulma's attention then shifted from Rinka to her brother. "Hey Gohan, how old are you?" she asked him.

"Um, uh," he had to think about it for a second. "Four and a half," he told her.

"Are you gonna grow up to be a brave fighter like your dad?" she asked.

"Well, Chi Chi doesn't let him train," Goku explained.

"Uh, oh. No martial arts, huh? For either of you?" Bulma glanced at Rinka.

"Actually, mom doesn't mind me training so much. After all, she says 'it's important for a woman to know how to defend herself'," Rinka told them, shaking a finger and mimicking her mother.

"Yeah, but, I think what _you've_ learned goes a bit beyond just self defense," Goku mentioned with an awkward chuckle.

"Well, martial arts is fun! Dad's been teaching me some of his techniques. Don't tell my mom," Rinka mock whispered to them with a big grin.

"So, why does Chi Chi let you learn, but not Gohan?" Bulma wondered.

"I'm not really sure. Chi Chi's just never been quite as protective of Rin. I think it's because she's older," Goku guessed.

"It also could be because Gohan's a boy. They always say mother's are especially protective of their little boys," Bulma added. "So, what do you want to be when you grow up, Gohan?" she asked.

"An Orthopedist," he recited.

"Wow, uh. An Orthopedist?" Bulma sound like she didn't really know how to respond to that. "What about you, Rinka?"

"I wanna study computer science," she said, her face beaming.

"Oh? You mean like me?" Bulma asked excitedly.

"Yeah, kinda. . . or be a rock star!" she declared with a grin.

"Huh? What? A rock star?!" Krillin responded, sounding shocked. In fact, they all looked a bit, taken aback.

Rinka fixed him with a sideways glance. "That was a joke," she responded flatly.

"Oh," he said a bit sheepishly.

Goku began laughing awkwardly at his daughter. "That's Rin for ya. She's always been a funny one," he said, plopping a hand on her head and rubbing her hair.

The sea turtle, who had been just hanging out and listening, suddenly moved closer to Gohan, distracting them all. Gohan looked nervous and tried to back away.

"He's just saying hi, Gohan," Goku assured him.

"Hmm, a tail," Bulma commented, when she noticed it. She looked over and saw that Rinka was sporting one as well.

"Yeah, they were both born with one. Just like me," Goku told her. The turtle bent his head down closer to the little boy. "I think he wants you to pet him, Gohan," Goku encouraged. So Gohan complied with a smile. It seemed to make the turtle happy.

"Oh man, Goku! Has anything, ya know, strange ever happened to Gohan or Rinka at night?" Bulma asked with sudden worry.

"Whatdaya mean?" he wondered.

"She means, has either of them ever looked at the moon at night, when its full?" Master Roshi clarified.

"I don't think so. No, we all go to bed pretty early," Goku told them.

They all fixed their eyes on Gohan. He was suddenly on top of the turtle, riding him. Then they glanced over at Rinka.

"Why? What happens when you look at a full moon? You scared we're gonna turn into werewolves or something?" Rinka asked with a grin. _What a silly question,_ she thought.

"What? N-No! No! Nothing like that. We was just wondering is all," Master Roshi answered, suddenly acting all jumpy. That was strange. Rinka wondered what the big deal was.

"Well, uh, he sure seems a lot different than you were when you were a kid, Goku," Krillin pointed out.

Gohan had climbed off the turtle and was now running away from a small wave to make sure he didn't get wet.

"I know. Like I said, Chi Chi can be pretty over-protective when it comes to Gohan. She makes him study all the time, and she says martial arts are a waste of energy," he explained with a sigh.

"Oh yeah? Then what does that make us then?" Krillin snapped.

"Now, now, settle down boys. You can't expect everyone to agree with what you're doing. It would be all too easy, then," Master Roshi lectured.

"Well, at least Rin seems to have taken much more after me." Goku glanced down to smile at his daughter and ruffle her hair some more.

"So, you're a daddy's girl, are ya?" Krillin asked her.

"You could say that," she said with a smirk, her hair now staring to fall out of the immaculate bun. This didn't escape Bulma's notice.

"Goku, your messing up her hair!" she protested.

"Oh, that's okay, Bulma. I don't really like wearing my hair like this, anyway. This is just how my mom does it," Rinka said with a pout.

"So, how do _you_ like to wear your hair?" she wondered in a bemused tone.

"Like this!" Rinka reached up and began rapidly dusting off her head, further messing up her hair. When she was finished, hair was sticking out of the bun in all directions, some of it even falling completely out so that her bangs were longer, dangling more into her face.

"Well, that figures," Bulma huffed. Rinka grinned up at her.

Meanwhile, Gohan was busying himself playing rock, paper, scissors with a crab, until he finally won a round. He laughed before the crab began angerly blowing bubbles in his face. Master Roshi laughed at that.

"Watch out! He might pinch ya, Gohan! That crab's a mighty sore loser!" he warned. Gohan then came running back over to the group.

"Oh, how neat! That's a real dragon ball on your hat, isn't it?" Bulma asked.

Did she really _just_ noticed the dragon ball? Rinka wondered skeptically.

"Yep, the four star ball. It took me a while to find it, but I wanted Gohan to have it, since it used to belong to my grandfather," Goku explained. "I've been collecting Dragonballs for fun. I've got the three star ball, and the six star ball too. They're at home."

"Wow. You know, it's wild to think of all the crazy adventures we used to have trying to find those things," Bulma said.

"Yeah, really," Krillin added. "So, Goku. Whataya guys gonna wish for when ya get all seven?" Krillin asked.

He picked up a rock off the beach and skipped it across the ocean. It kept skipping until it was out of sight. Rinka watched it with amazement, and then glanced back over at Krillin. She knew that he had trained together with her father, but she hadn't really thought about how strong he must be as well because of it.

"A better gaming laptop," Rinka then answered matter-of-factly.

"Rin, you know your mom doesn't like you playing games on that thing," her father scolded her.

"They're educational," she argued back. "Mostly," she added when they all gave her skeptical glances.

"Well, I know there isn't anything that I want," Goku said as he picked up a pebble, and tossed it across the sea.

Which is actually pretty accurate, as it sailed out of sight, not even touching the water once. Rinka grinned. As strong as Krillin was, her daddy was still the strongest guy in the world!

"Whoa! Wow!" they all exclaimed.

"You're still one bad dude, Goku," Krillin praised.

But it was short-lived, however, as Goku's face suddenly contorted into a serious scowl. He began glancing around nervously, making the others nervous as well.

"What? What is it?" Krillin asked.

"What Goku?" Master Roshi pressed.

"There's something bad heading straight for us!" he announced.

"What?" Bulma asked nervously. "Are you sure, Goku?" They all looked out over the sea. Everything seemed to be fine.

"I'm positive! I've never felt a power like this before!" he told them, sounding nervous as well.

"Yeah, I feel it now too," Krillin said.

"There's nothing there you guys," Bulma frowned skeptically, but he was unphased.

Rinka thought she could start to feel something now, as well. She wasn't super skilled at feeling out energy levels yet, but this was massive enough that even she was picking it up! What did it mean?

"Look, there!" Goku shouted as a person was starting to come into view.

"Oh yes, I see it Goku!" Master Roshi yelled.

"Who is that?" Goku wondered.

"It's not Piccolo, is it?" Krillin asked, shading his eyes to try to get a better look at the flying figure.

It appeared to be some guy dressed in weirdly shaped armor. He had a little screen over one eye, and his hair was very long and spiky. It was the same jet-black color that her family had, and Rinka couldn't help but noticed that he kinda looked a bit like her dad. He landed gently on the sand in front of them with a satisfied grunt, and everyone took an unconscious step back.

He and Goku just stared each other down for a bit. The guy was growling at him. Who was this person? Why was he making everyone so nervous? The little screen on his face started beeping, and he laughed ominously.

"So, we meet again at last. You've grown up," the stranger suddenly said, causing her dad to start in surprise. "I recognize you, though, Kakarot."

"Kakarot?" Goku asked in surprise.

"That's right. That's your name!" the stranger declared. Rinka was feeling really confused. That clearly wasn't her dad's name.

"Huh? His name?" the others stated in confusion.

"Who is this? He must be nuts!" Krillin commented.

"Kakarot! What have you been doing here all these years? Your mission was to terminate all life on this planet! Why haven't you carried it out?" the guy demanded.

Goku just looked confusedly around at the others, but they didn't provide any help with clarification.

"Listen Mister! I don't know who you are, but you've obviously got the wrong guy!" Krillin told him. "Shoo, shoo," he said, waving him off. "I think you've been dipping in the eggnog!" Krillin advanced on the stranger. "Allow me to escort you off this island."

Krillin didn't get a chance to do so, however, as the guy started to power up.

"Krillin, watch out!" Goku shouted at him, too late.

Krillin looked shocked, as what was clearly a tail uncurled itself from around the stranger, and slammed him backwards with so much force, that Krillin when straight through the edge of the house! Rinka was starting to feel scared now! She swallowed hard.

"Ah! A tail!" Goku exclaimed once he realized what had happened. Everyone else looked shocked at this news as well. The stranger just chuckled evilly. "I don't believe it! He's got a tail too!"

"That's good. I wondered how long it would take you to recognize me," he said, waving his tail around.

"What are you? I – I've never seen you before," Goku told him, doing his best to try and keep Gohan behind him, who kept attempting to climb his father in fear.

"Gohan!" Rinka exclaimed, finally grabbing him and pulling him back. If things turned into a fight, she knew Gohan would only be in the way. She picked him up and held him, trying to get him to settle down.

"Kakarot! You mean to tell me you have no idea who I am?" the dude growled.

"I don't know who this Kakarot person is your looking for, but I'm not him! My name's Goku!" he snapped.

"Unn, what happened to you?" he barked back.

"Daddy!" Gohan called, and then started struggling to get out of Rinka's grip.

"No, Gohan! We have to stay back!" she told him, readjusting her hold and taking a couple steps away.

"Kakarot! Tell me, did you ever suffer a serious injury to the head when you were young?" the guy asked.

"What?!" Goku demanded.

"When you were a kid, did you ever hit your head?!" he demanded again, but Gohan's whining behind him distracted Goku. "Did you hear me!?" he growled.

"Yeah! I don't remember it very well, but you're right. I did hit my head when I was a child," Goku admitted. "I still have a scar where it happened."

"You stupid fool! You forgot!" he realized.

"I forgot what?! Tell me!" Goku snapped.

"Goku," they heard Master Roshi say from behind them. "There's something, something your grandfather once told me that I think you should know. Long ago, your grandpa Gohan was walking through the woods, when he came upon a crater that had been recently made in the ground. When he went to examine it more closely, he found what appeared to be some sort of spaceship, and next to it, there you were, lying in a little round pod. Gohan tried to take care of you, but you were wild, downright uncontrollable! And unusually powerful for a baby. You wanted nothing to do with Gohan's kindness," he began explaining.

Rinka's mouth went slightly agape as she was listening to this tale, concentrating on every word. Could it be true? Did her father really come from space? Did that mean, she was half alien?!

"Then, one day, there was a terrible accident. You fell into a deep ravine and badly injured your head. Your grandfather feared that he had lost you, but somehow, miraculously, you survived. Yes, any other child would have died, but you recovered! And from that day on, you became a happy, loving boy," he finished.

"I'm – from outer space?" Goku asked in shock.

"Yes," Master Roshi confirmed with a nod.

"Well, that would explain a lot!" Bulma decided. "So you think Goku has some connection with this guy?"

"I wish I knew," Roshi told her.

"Kay, you've got my attention. Now tell us who you are!" Goku demanded of the stranger.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to give a history lesson when I came here today," he admitted. Even so, Rinka for one was now very interested in what he had to say. "But all right. I'll tell you everything. After all, you are going to be working for me from now on, and I do like my subordinates to be well-informed."

A sudden clanking of wood drew Rinka's attention away from the alien for a moment, to see that Krillin had come to and was attempting to climb out of the corner of the house. Rinka hurried over to help him, juggling Gohan so that he was propped to one side on her hip. She reached out a hand, and he gratefully took it, letting her help pull him up.

"Hey, Krillin? You alright?" Goku turned and asked, noticing the exchange.

"Yeah. Be careful, Goku. This guy's not – normal," Krillin decided.

Goku nodded. "Believe me, I know. I could sense that from the minute he landed. Even now, standing here talking to him like this, something about him turns my stomach!"

"Such harsh words. Careful, you're more like me than you realize. You were born on the planet Vegeta. You are a space fighter, a Saiyan warrior. Just like me," he explained. Everyone seemed pretty surprised at this news.

But, didn't Master Roshi just get done telling them their dad had come from space? Rinka didn't understand why this news was so shocking.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Raditz, your big brother!" he announced.

"Goku, has a – a brother?!" Krillin asked in disbelief.

"Goku, he looks like you," Bulma realized.

_I have an uncle_? Rinka thought. Well that was certainly surprising!

"Why should I believe you?" Goku asked skeptically.

"Yeah, that's right! What the heck is Goku doin' on Earth if he's from another planet?" Krillin pointed out.

"That's simple," Raditz said with more nefarious laughter. "We sent him here. Kakarot was given specific orders to clear this world of it's current inhabitants. A mission which he has failed miserably! You see, we Saiyans are sort of like – planet brokers. We scour space for planets that will bring a high price on the galactic market. Once we find them, we send our warriors there to purge them of any life, and make them – ready for sale. It's a very, very profitable business, and we take great pride in being efficient in our work," Raditz explained further.

"For example: if we discover a planet with strong inhabitants, we send a team of our adult fighters to wipe them out. But for planets full of weaklings like this one, one of our babies is generally sufficient to carry out the order," he finished.

"If what you say is true, you Saiyans are just an abomination! You're space pirates. That's what you are!" Krillin lectured.

"How can you send little babies off into space all alone?" Bulma blubbered, hugging both Rinka and Gohan in the process.

"Trust me. They are more than capable of looking after themselves," Raditz assured her. Eying Rinka and her brother closely. "Well, most of them. Kakarot, you're a disgrace!" he snapped at him. "You could have easily wiped out every living thing on this planet by yourself. If you hadn't forgotten your orders, it would've only taken you a year or two at the most! Especially considering this planet has a nice, big moon," he observed.

"Uh, yeah? Let me guess, I was probably supposed to blow that up too," he stated more than asked.

"You fool! You know as well as I do it's the key to unlocking your true potential! I'm sure at least once in your life you've looked at the full moon," he yelled.

Wait, the full moon? Rinka glanced around at her dad's friends. Hadn't they just been asking them about that? But, her dad hadn't understood what they meant.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he argued, proving Rinka's point. Raditz gasped and took a closer look at Goku.

"What – what happened to your tail, Kakarot?!" he demanded.

"My tail? Why?" he asked.

"Answer me! Now!" Raditz continued to shout.

"It was removed, permanently, a long time ago," he explained.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? Your true power is gone now! Without your tail, you've lost your ability to transform at the full moon! Now I can see how you'd be on good terms with these weaklings," he scoffed.

The tail makes you transform at the full moon? Rinka turned to look at hers. So did that mean they really were werewolves?

"Listen, this is my home, and these are my friends. So it doesn't matter what you say I am, and you sure don't act like any brother I'd want to have. My name is Goku, and I live here. Now leave us alone!" he shouted at him.

"Yeah, just go!" Bulma added.

"Even if you are brothers, that doesn't mean Goku has to destroy peaceful planets like you do, ya big creep!" Master Roshi told him.

"Right! Goku even saved this planet once, Mister. So go away!" Krillin commanded.

Rinka had a feeling that all the arguing wasn't going to do much, especially with the confident smirk this guy had on.

"So baby brother wants to be left alone," Raditz said as he waltzed into the middle of their group. "Well, it's a pity that's not going to happen. No, at this point I'm afraid you're far too valuable to us for that. You see, three years ago, our home planet Vegeta met with an unfortunate accident, when a huge comet slammed into it's surface. The planet was vaporized, and the Saiyan race destroyed." He continued to walk around as he spoke.

"There's not too many of us left now, brother. In fact, as far as we can tell, there are only four, including you. We were the only Saiyans away from home when the planet exploded. Like you, the rest of us had been sent off to preform a few, hostile takeovers. And now we've found another world we'd like to conquer. It should bring in a very high price, but unfortunately, the job's a little too big for only three of us to handle. We were almost afraid we'd have to pass it up, until I remembered you, Kakarot. You're not as powerful as I might have hoped, but still with your help, we should manage nicely," he explained.

"Well, now," Raditz continued, getting up in Goku's face. "What do you think? Are you excited?" he wondered. "You should be. I've come to take you back into the fold."

"I've heard enough!" Goku hollered. "I'd die before I'd join a gang of pirates like you!"

"Interesting," Raditz said, casting his gaze back on Rinka and Gohan. "I have been meaning to ask you Kakarot, I couldn't help but notice that your children have tails," he commented.

"Leave them out of this!" Goku snapped.

"I'll decide that!" he shot back. "If you won't join us, I suppose I'll just have to settle for taking the kids in your place. The female, in particular, will be most valuable," he said with a devious look in his eye.

Rinka definitely didn't like the sound of that! And neither did anyone else for that matter, judging by their reactions.

"Goku. . ." Krillin trailed, casting a nervous glace in Rinka's direction.

"We'll see," Goku said, before taking a fighting stance.

"I see the fire in your eyes, brother. You should come with us. It's in your blood. You love to fight." Raditz had come full circle, and began to advance once again.

"I'm right here with you, Goku," Krillin assured him.

"Just stay close to Rin and Gohan," Goku told his friend.

"Watch it, Goku," Master Roshi warned. Unfortunately, none of it seemed to matter.

In the blink of an eye, Raditz was on top of Goku. He swiftly delivered a brutal kick to the stomach that sent him flying backwards in a world of pain. Goku landed hard on the sandy beach. Rinka gasped in shock and anger. How dare this guy do something like that to her father!

"Daddy!" Rinka shouted, and ran towards him. To do – well – she wasn't really sure what she was planning on doing. Help him? Defend him? Something!

She tried to put Gohan down and motion for him to stay back, but she should have known better. Without hesitating, he darted after her towards their prostrate father, Bulma chasing them.

"Gohan no!" she yelled, but it was too late.

Before they were even able to reach him, Raditz stepped in and plucked them both off the sand, one in each hand. Gohan immediately started to wail.

"Like I said, I'm taking your kids. If you ever want to see them alive again, I suggested you listen closely," he threatened.

Rinka wasn't going to go without a fight! She struggled as hard as she could, trying to get out of the big bully's grasp, but it was no use. He simply tucked Gohan under his arm, and easily clocked her over the skull with his now free hand. Rinka immediately stopped squirming as her vision blurred and stars danced around her head. She'd never felt so dizzy before!

"Come on, Goku! You have to get up!" Krillin told him.

"Now then, I'll give you one day to think about my offer. Although let's be realistic, Kakarot. I'm not giving you a choice. So, when you decide to join us, and you will, there's something I want you to do. Prove to me that you mean it. You can start by eliminating one hundred of these pathetic Earthlings. Just stack them here on the beach when you're done. I'll be back tomorrow for a head count," Raditz ordered.

Everyone's expressions darkened at this sudden turn of events.

"So what do you say, Kakarot? I do hope you'll come through for me on this one. After all, they're my niece and nephew. It'd be a shame if I had to hurt them," he said darkly, pulling Gohan up to his face.

"Help daddy, I'm scared!" Gohan bawled. Goku tried reaching for him. "Ah! Help me!" the boy cried, and all Raditz could do was laugh maniacally!

* * *

**So, I know this is pretty long for a first chapter, but the first episode was too short to be by itself. Also, I forgot just how much exposition was in these first couple episodes! The story will get more unique after we get through the Raditz ordeal. :)**


	3. A Losing Battle

"What's the matter, Kakarot? You haven't answered me. Let's try again. If you want your children back, I want you to eliminate one hundred earthlings by this time tomorrow. Do you understand?" Raditz asked him slowly, while Gohan still cried in his grasp.

All Goku could do was nod, still having the wind knocked out of him.

"That's good. Do this little job for me, and you can join us. But fail, and I'll see to it your son suffers a most unpleasant end. As for your daughter, you can rest assured that you'll never see her again," he threatened.

"You coward! Hiding behind children!" Krillin said, gritting his teeth.

"That's right, you sicko! And besides, it won't do you any good. Goku isn't capable of killing anyone," Master Roshi argued.

"Quiet, old man! Kakarot is a Saiyan. I think you'd be very surprised at what he's capable of doing. Of course, it will make no difference either way. Every living thing on this planet will be eliminated soon. After we've finished our current job, I've decided the Earth will be our next target," Raditz told them with a sinister smirk.

"You, you what?!" Master Roshi exclaimed.

"Even without Kakarot, three Saiyans should be more than enough for the job. We could conquer this puny planet in our sleep. So you see, brother, whether you kill one hundred earthlings now or not, the end result is the same," he reasoned.

Goku didn't want to quit. He managed to crawl over, reach out, and grab the Saiyan warrior by the ankle.

"Leave – the kids – out of this," he grunted out.

"I wish I could Kakarot, but you understand. I need to give you a little extra incentive to do what I asked," Raditz said with false sympathy.

"Please, let 'em go," Goku begged.

"Just look at how pathetic you are. Please, brother, show some – pride," Raditz told him before kicking his hand away. "You have until tomorrow. Try to enjoy it." And with that, Raditz took to the air.

"I'm expecting great things from you, brother. Don't let me down!" And blasted away with a screaming Gohan and an unconscious Rinka. Both Goku and Gohan yelling desperately for each other.

. . .

Sometime later, when Rinka finally felt like the earth had stopped spinning, she realized that she was suddenly lying on the ground. Little hands were rocking her back and forth.

"Rin! Rin! Wake up! Please wake up!" It was Gohan; he was shaking her.

Rinka opened her eyes to see the tear stained face of her little brother. She sat up and put a hand to her head.

"Ow, that really hurt," she moaned.

She quickly realized that they were no longer on the island. Instead, they were now sitting in a wide, open field, right behind a blue pick-up truck. Gohan was cowering by her side.

"Rin! You're okay!" he sniffed. "I'm scared. What are we gonna to do?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Do? About what?" she asked.

"That guy. He beat up daddy and took us away! What's gonna happen to us?" Rinka glanced around, but didn't see him.

"Where is he now?" she wondered.

"He went down – into that pit," Gohan pointed to a large crater that was nearby.

Rinka shifted to her hands and knees and crawled closer to get a better look. Meanwhile, Gohan scooted up right next to one of the truck's rear tires, gripping it tightly. It didn't take long before she saw the guy's head poke out from inside the hole.

"That bully," Gohan sniffed. "I hate him! Big – jerk," he whined.

"Don't worry. I'm sure dad is going to try and come save us. But in the meantime, we probably shouldn't try to get on this guy's bad side. I don't think he's going to hurt us, as long as he thinks dad's gonna do what he wants," Rinka tried to reassure him.

They watched as the space pirate moved closer. His feet were visible as he stepped right next to the truck they were taking shelter behind. They heard a loud crash, and suddenly the truck began to rise up off the ground, revealing Gohan and Rinka to him. He glared down at them.

"Oh, oh yeah! My dad could lift that too, ya know?" Gohan shouted at the brute, trying to sound brave. Rinka shook her head. There was just no reasoning with a four year old!

However, instead of responding, there was a blinding flash of white light as the Raditz guy used his power to blow up the truck! When he was done, Rinka was shocked to find that it had been completely vaporized! Gohan's response was to immediately begin wailing again. He crawled over and fearfully clung onto Rinka. She did her best to comfort him, but it was proving difficult as his screaming was aggravating her already pounding head.

"Shut up!" Raditz snapped angerly. "Can't you do anything about that crying?" he demanded of Rinka.

"No, I'm sorry. When he gets going, it's hard to get him to stop," she told him over the noise.

"I don't know why you're so mean! I didn't do anything to you," Gohan hollered.

Raditz came over and yanked the boy out of Rinka's arms. She looked panicked and immediately leapt to her feet.

"Please, don't hurt him," she begged, feeling terrified for her brother's safety.

"I'm not going to hurt him. Just putting him somewhere where that noise will stop _grinding_ into my skull!" he told her irritably. Rinka shrank back a bit at his harsh tone.

"He must learn how to be strong. After all, you are both part of the brave Saiyans, too," Raditz told her.

"Wah! Put me down! Put me down! Rin help me!" Gohan cried out, as Raditz slid back down into the crater.

Rinka sprinted over to the edge of it and peered down to see what was going on. She watched as Raditz chucked the boy into some kind of spherical space craft.

"There," he said, closing the door on Gohan. "You can come out when you quiet down."

"You see, that's much better," he told her, as he climbed back out of the massive depression.

Well, it was true that he was quieter. She could see him pounding on the red window, situated on the front of the ship, but could barely hear anything. She glanced back up at this man who was supposedly her uncle.

"You seem much different than your brother. Not afraid of everything, like him," he commented to her.

"Yeah, well, he's been a bit sheltered," she admitted.

"Tell me, what kind of training have you received?" he asked her.

"My dad has taught me some martial arts, and how to use my energy – a little," she added.

"Good. A little is better than nothing. It should serve you well with us," he told her. Rinka grimaced a bit at the idea. "Now, I need to try to round up something to eat. Don't even think of trying to escape. I prefer not to see you come to harm, but I will not hesitate to punish insubordination. Believe me, it won't end well for you," he threatened.

Rinka nodded that she understood. That seemed to satisfy him and he turned to go. However, before he could, the little screen thing on his face started beeping again.

"A power level, of 710?" He clicked a button on the side of the device and started in surprise. "This says its within fifty meters of here! But where?" He turned to look at Rinka who was staring at him in confusion. Then turned fulling around to face where he'd put Gohan.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "That kid? Impossible! But there's no – but that's what my scouter's indicating!" He whirled around to Rinka again. "Girl, tell me now! Has your brother ever demonstrated any kind of special power?" he asked roughly.

"What? Special power? No, nothing like that. He's never even had any kind of training," she answered quickly, feeling afraid that he was suddenly so upset.

"Hmmm, piece of junk must be broken," he said more calmly, indicating the device before reaching up and turning it off. "I will return shortly," he declared before taking off again.

Rinka collapsed into the grass with a loud sigh. That had been a little scary, but now that he was gone, she wasn't sure what to do with herself. Just sit here and wait for him to come back, she supposed. She had no doubt that he would keep his word about punishment if she tried anything, and she didn't particularly feel like risking his wrath right now. Not with Gohan's safety on the line, and no idea of how to get him out of there.

He returned a little while later, carrying the carcass of some unfortunate animal, as well as several pieces of strangely shaped fruit. Rinka had never seen a fruit like that before. She wondered where he got it.

He tore into the creature, apparently unphased by the fact that it was still raw and bleeding everywhere!Rinka cringed as she watched him devour it. He had pretty much finished it off, when he finally noticed her staring at him.

"So, girl, what is your name?" he asked her.

"Rinka," she told him.

"Well, Rinka – I'm betting you're probably hungry. Here," he tossed her one of the pieces of fruit.

She caught it gingerly and stared at it. She wasn't really sure about eating this psychedelic looking fruit, but he was right. She was hungry! And if _he_ could eat it without any kind of adverse effects, then she probably could too, she reasoned. She bit into it and began scarfing it down, while he ate one as well.

If he was willing to feed her, she decided that maybe she could get away with asking a few questions. Rinka felt like this might be a good opportunity to find out more about who, or what, she actually was. Maybe her only opportunity!

"Uncle Raditz, can I ask you something?" she ventured, attempting to soften him up a bit.

It seemed to work, as he fixed her with a satisfied smirk, looking pleased about the title.

"What is it, child?" he encouraged.

"You said our tails give us the ability to transform at the full moon. What do we turn into?" she wondered. His smirk widened.

"We take on the form of the mighty Oozaru, a Great Ape. It increases our size and strength exponentially, allowing us powers we could never dream of normally! Your father was a fool to let the earthlings remove his tail!" Raditz explained.

Rinka glanced behind her at her own tail, waving it around. Could it really do all that? And all she had to do was stare at a full moon?

"So we're – like monkeys?" she guessed.

"NO!" His sudden outburst caused Rinka to flinch. "We are far more than mere monkeys! Do not ever use that term again!" he roared at her.

Rinka stared back at him, looking shocked and very confused. "I – I'm sorry," she managed to squeak out. She didn't understand how she'd offended him, but she hadn't meant to! He must have sensed this, because his harsh expression eased a bit.

"It is, alright. You just don't know any better. But believe me, that will change. You will have the opportunity to learn all about our people soon enough," he rose to walk closer to her, but then abruptly turned away. "We are part of a proud and noble race, one of the most powerful in the universe, never forget that!" he lectured.

The little device over his eye blipped again, and he clicked at it, turning back towards where Gohan was.

"This thing's still going haywire," he growled. "And I didn't even bring the manual! Still – 710? Piece of junk!" he spat.

"Is that, really high?" Rinka asked carefully.

"For a child, yes. Impossibly so, but it's still nowhere near as high as mine," he boasted.

Rinka was about to ask him to check to see what number she had, when it began making more warning noises.

"What!" he exclaimed, flipping back around. "A power level of 650?" he questioned towards the sky. "No, there's two. One's 320 and the other's 330. Kakarot has a power level of 330, but Kakarot wouldn't be coming here, would he?" he asked, turning to give Rinka a questioning glance.

Did he expect her to answer? She had no idea! This whole getting kidnapped thing was a first for her. So she just shrugged.

"No, he can't beat me and he knows it! Besides, he has no idea where we are. That's it! This thing is driving me crazy!" he decided, turning it off.

But he was wrong – Rinka was able to detect the unmistakable sensation of her father's energy closing in on them. And he wasn't alone, there was another one, but who? She wondered.

Raditz sighed, "I need to take it easy." But the thing beeped again! "Uh! What the –!?" he exclaimed, whirling around just in time to see the figures of Goku – and surprisingly, the green guy Piccolo, looming on the horizon.

_What is Piccolo doing here_? She wondered. She thought he hated her father!

"Kakarot is here!" he shouted before turning and casting a very nervous gaze in Gohan direction. So, if his energy-reading thingy wasn't broken, did that mean that Gohan really had a number that was over double what her father's was? But that didn't make any sense!

Rinka didn't really have much time to dwell on it, because her father and Piccolo suddenly landed in the area right next to them.

_Daddy_! She thought excitedly with a gasp, but didn't get a chance to call out to him.

"Well, well, well. Look who's decided to drop in. It's little brother. Oh, and he's brought the green man with him. I was wondering who that second, insignificant blip on my scouter might be. I confess, I didn't expect it to be you. What a pleasant surprise," Raditz drawled, tossing one of the fruits casually up and down in the air.

"I have to hand it to you, brother. I didn't think I'd see you till tomorrow. You are a little more resourceful than I thought, and more foolish as well," he continued to monologue.

"We'll see about that!" Goku snapped back. His eyes darted around, spotting Rinka on the ground next to the massive gap in the earth. She was looking very unsure about what she should be doing. "Rinka! Are you hurt?" he asked quickly. She shook her head wildly. "Where's Gohan?"

She turned and gazed down into the crater behind her, then looked back up at her father. The motion was less than subtle, but it got the message across. He gave her a sharp nod. She slowly rose to her feet, readying herself for whatever came next. Raditz seemed to notice the exchange, but did not react to it.

"So, what brings you here, Kakarot?" he asked casually, like Goku's being there was purely coincidence. "Do tell. Have you already eliminated one hundred earthlings?" he asked.

"I'm here to get my kids back!" he said, as if that wasn't already obvious.

"I was afraid you'd say that. You are testing my patience, Kakarot. I've been more than generous with you, so far. Now for the last time, I strongly recommend that you join us!" Raditz pressed.

"I don't care what you recommend! The answer is still no!" he yelled back.

"You should listen to your big brother," Raditz warned.

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a brother!" Goku told him harshly.

Well, so much for her having a uncle, Rinka thought.

His comment didn't seem to sit too well with Raditz, as he proceeded to grip the fruit uncomfortably tight.

"Alright then. You can have it your way, Kakarot. I didn't come here to kill you, but it seems you have left me no choice. It's too bad, little brother. I do think you would have found the life of a Saiyan to be quite invigorating." Raditz took a big bite out of the fruit when he finished.

Rinka felt her hair starting to stand on end in fear. After all that, he was going to just – kill her father?

"Alright, I've heard enough talk!" Piccolo growled, tossing off his cape and hat. "You know why we're here, so let's get on with it." They hit the ground with an abnormal amount of force. Goku seemed surprised.

"Huh? Piccolo? I had no idea you trained with weighted clothing too," Goku said.

"What? Thought you were the only one?" he asked skeptically. He grunted with satisfaction and rubbed at one of his shoulders. "Oh yeah, I feel much lighter now," he mentioned.

Apparently in response, Goku began stripping as well. He removed his shirt, boots, and wrist weights, listing them off as he went.

"There's thirty pounds, and here's fifty, and another fifty. And two little fivers. That outta do it, Piccolo. Unless you can think of something else?"

"What am I, your tailor?" Piccolo scoffed.

Rinka snorted at the comment. Probably for the best if they didn't remove any more clothes.

Raditz tossed the remainder of the fruit aside, and laughed at the antics.

"Do you two really think that's going to make a difference?" he asked knowingly. "Fools! Who do you think I am?! A few weights aren't going to affect the outcome of this fight! I'm still ten times stronger than you are!" he boasted.

"That may be true, but strength isn't the only thing that matters!" Goku said haughtily. "Not when you can outsmart your opponent!

However, Rinka was pretty sure that it was still an important part to winning a fight. . .

"You really don't have a clue, do you brother?" Raditz asked. "You know what? I think I've decided I don't want you to join us anymore. A fool like you would only slow us down," Raditz said. "You're a disgrace to all Saiyans! Now prepare to die!" he screamed at him.

Both of the fighters took a defensive stance, and Rinka felt an instinctive draw to want to help. She made a motion like she was going to run out into the fray, but her father stopped her at the last moment.

"Rin, no! Stay back and out of the way!" he ordered. She froze for a moment, but then obeyed, backing away to the edge of the crater.

But, then she suddenly realized that Raditz was gone! She glanced around, frantically trying to find him. He reappeared, as if by magic, right behind where Piccolo and her father were standing! He planted a wicked elbow strike right into the middle of both their backs, nailing them both at the same time. They grunted and fell forward in pain, but then recovered just as quickly. They all stared back at Raditz in shock. It was like he had warped!

He laughed evilly, maintaining his pose. "Well, I'll give ya this. You know how to take a punch," he offered. "Good! That should only make this all the more enjoyable. Oh yes, let's find out how much pain you can really stand," he threatened.

"What's wrong? You look so pensive, Kakarot. Are you still trying to outsmart me? Well, think about this while you're at it. Your situation is even more hopeless than you realize. If you think I'm strong now, wait until I catch my stride. Truth is, I'm just getting warmed up," he taunted.

That didn't seem to go over well with either of them, and Rinka started getting a sinking feeling that she should be worried.

"I'll tell you what. Seeing as how your power levels are more or less equal, why don't we make a little game out of this. We'll call it: which of you can last against me the longest," Raditz said.

"Hmmm, needs work," Rinka muttered in response. He must have heard her though, because a moment later Raditz shot daggers at her with his eyes.

"No commenting from the peanut gallery!" he barked at her.

Rinka threw her hands up in annoyance and plopped back down to the ground in defeat, crossing her arms in a pout. She couldn't help, she couldn't talk – fine then! All that was left was for her to sit there and watch, like a good little girl. Lame! Well, hopefully they'd at least figure out a way to beat this Raditz guy.

"Now, as I was saying. The rules are simple, I cause you both a great deal of pain, and you writhe around in agony. The loser is the first to beg for mercy," he taunted.

"That's it! I don't care how strong he is. I'm not gonna stand here and listen to this. I would prefer to die," Piccolo declared. Raditz just laughed at him.

"Don't you worry about it, green man. We'll get to that in due time," Raditz assured him.

"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself. You haven't beaten us yet," Goku reminded him.

_You also haven't even started yet_, Rinka thought with an eye roll.

"Trust me, Kakarot. I know an easy win when I see one. I'm a Saiyan! It's what I do," Raditz said.

"Come on, Goku. Let's finish this guy. We'll charge him together," Piccolo suggested.

"Wait, just a second," he told Piccolo, and flew up a ways to glance into the crater, apparently wanting to get a look at where Rinka had indicated that Gohan was. The boy peered up at him through the little, red window.

"Gohan," Goku grit his teeth in frustration when he saw him.

"Daddy help! Please daddy! Get me out!" They could hear Gohan crying through the walls of the pod.

"Be strong, Gohan! I'll be down to help you in a minute. Just hold on!" his father reassured him.

"Ha! You'll be down alright, but you won't be helping anybody!" Goku turned to glare at his children's kidnapper. "You should say your goodbyes, though. You won't get another chance," Raditz told him, and Goku re-landed on the ground.

"No! I won't lose," Goku declared.

"Alright, let's do this!" Piccolo announced.

Rinka had an overwhelming urge to shout: _Leeeeerooooooooooooy Jenkins_! But just grinned instead.

Goku and Piccolo charged at Raditz, both attempting to deliver a series of powerful punches. All of which seemed to be missing, unfortunately. The only reason Rinka knew this, was because he wasn't being thrown backwards. Her untrained eyes were having a hard time keeping up with what was happening.

She was finally able to make something out, when both Piccolo and her father were suddenly each taking one of Raditz' boots to their face. They both flew backwards, but recovered before they hit the ground and bounded back into the fray, all of them taking to the air. That quickly proved to be a mistake, as a pair of powerful energy blasts came shooting from Raditz' hands.

Rinka had to look away, as the blinding flash hurt her eyes. She ducked for cover, holding her arms up over her head. The earth shook with tremendous force when the blasts hit. She didn't risk looking again until the shaking stopped.

"Where did he go?!" It was her father's voice. She glanced up and blew out a sigh of relief to see that he was okay, for a second anyway.

Because not a moment later, Raditz materialized behind him. "Right here," he said, sharply kicking Goku in the back, sending him flying forward and eating dirt.

"What's the matter with you two? You can at least try to make better sport of it than this. You don't want me to get bored, do you?" he sneered.

Goku managed to pick himself up off the ground. He wiped at some blood that was leaking from the side of his mouth.

"Piccolo, are you alright?" he asked. Drawing everyone's attention to him. "Gah!" Goku gasped in shock when he saw his current state. He was missing one of his arms, blood dripping from the remaining stump!

Rinka gaped at him in horror! It was one thing to see dismemberment happening in video games. Seeing it in real life was more gruesome than she could have imagined! And the creepiest part, was that it didn't seem to phase Piccolo at all!

"Don't worry about it," he assured him. "It's not as bad as it looks. I'm not out of this fight yet!" Rinka half expected him to say that it was 'merely a flesh wound', or at least that 'he'd had worse'.

Apparently, Raditz thought that this was just the funniest thing he'd ever seen, because he began cracking up with laughter. "Oh excuse me! Has anyone seen my arm? You can't miss it, it's green!" he roared psychotically. The others just glared back at him. "Come on now, surely that pathetic excuse for an attack wasn't the best you could do?" he taunted.

"Okay Goku, if you have any new techniques you've been waiting to use, now's the time," Piccolo hinted. He just laughed back awkwardly.

"Sorry, I wish I did," he admitted.

"Ha! You slacker. Why you've been taking it easy, I've been developing a new attack," Piccolo boasted.

"Fools! Haven't you figured it out yet? All of your planning is futile! Whisper all you want, but you're still going to die," Raditz told them matter-of-factly.

"So, you think this attack of yours has enough power to do some damage, Piccolo?" Goku wondered.

"Yes," he replied confidently.

"And you can do it with only one arm?"

"Yeah, that's no problem. The problem is, it takes me a while to gather the energy for it. So, you'll have to last against him alone for five minutes. It's your decision," Piccolo told him. Didn't seem like there was much of a choice, though.

"Alright, if you're sure it'll work, I'll hold him off," Goku said.

"Well, the truth is, it's untested. I've never tried it against an opponent. I was hoping to save it for a special occasion. It's the attack I planned to use to defeat you," Piccolo confessed.

Oh, great! That wasn't ominous or anything!

"I see, and now you're using it to help me. You must be terribly disappointed," Goku joked.

"No, this'll be a good test, and if it works, I'll be using it on you next," Piccolo assured him.

"Heh, heh – figures!" he chuckled.

"You know, that wasn't actually intended to be funny," Piccolo told him.

"I guess I'll be sure to watch out the next time we meet, but for now, wish me luck!" Goku requested.

"Alright, do you best, Goku," Piccolo encouraged.

He then leapt into action, charging the Saiyan warrior once again. They began to go at each other with a volley of punches and kicks. Meanwhile, Piccolo held back, holding a pair of fingers up to his forehead while he began charging his energy. Rinka couldn't really make out what was happening, but it didn't sound very good.

Eventually, Goku was flung away, before leaping into the air.

"He's persistent," Raditz grumbled.

Goku then brought his hands behind his back in his signature pose for his most powerful attack!

"Ka – me –" he began.

"Impossible! His power level is skyrocketing!" Raditz exclaimed. "900 – 950!"

"Haaaaaaa!" Goku continued.

"But how?! He knows how to raise his power level by concentrating his energy into one spot!" Raditz realized.

"Meeeeeee!"

"Ugh! What?" Raditz scouter beeped again, and he flipped around to look at Piccolo. "His power level has gone up as well. It's over 1,000! Unbelievable, and it's still going up!

"Haaaaaaaaaa!" Goku finally finished, releasing the beam of energy straight towards Raditz!

Rinka could feel her excitement rising. Now this guy would see what her dad was capable of!

Raditz tried to duck and run, but Goku adjusted the beam so that it would follow him. He finally stopped and turned to face it.

"Enough of this!" he shouted, putting out his hands and taking the blast, full-force! It exploded all around him.

When the dust settled, Rinka stared in shock and fear at what she saw. Raditz was standing there as if nothing had happened. How could her father's strongest attack not even leave a mark?! It was baffling that he could be so much stronger. Her eyes darted at Piccolo, she really hoped that whatever he was doing was going to work, otherwise he and her father were goners! Then what would happen to her and her brother?

"Brother! I'll show you how it's done!" Raditz announced, unleashing a powerful blast of his own. It hit Goku square in the chest! He let out a cry of pain, and began to plummet back to the earth.

"Daddy!" Rinka screamed in distress.

Goku hit the ground hard, and before anyone could react, Raditz was on top of him once again. He pulled Goku up by the collar and was about to pound a fist into his face, when something stopped him. As if just remembering that he was there, he turned to see that Piccolo had finished charging his attack. Piccolo grinned devilishly at him.

"Let's see you stop this one!" Piccolo exclaimed.

"How foolish! I underestimated these guys!" Raditz was just now realizing. "Power level 1,330! I can't block that!" he said with dismay, before gritting his teeth and steeling himself again. "Alright, green man! Let's see what you've got!"

"It's all yours! Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo shouted, firing the energy wave from his fingers directly at Raditz.

It was impressive! The most impressive attack yet. Rinka had to duck down again to avoid being blown away herself. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough. The smoke cleared, and they all gaped at seeing that Raditz was still standing!

"He – he dodged it. He – he's faster than the – speed of light," Piccolo lamented.

"My, that was quite an impressive little trick. Look how easily it pierced my armor," he commented – like it was nothing!

Rinka suddenly leapt to her feet. "It was supposed to pierce your heart! You giant jerk-wad!" she shouted at him, her eyes staring to get teary. She was feeling so scared and frustrated that name calling felt like the only thing she could do. That had been their last hope, hadn't it? And Piccolo had missed. So what now? Were they all doomed?

"And I thought I had told you to shut up!" Raditz yelled back at her. "You're going to pay for that later," he threatened.

"Ugh! Darn it! All for nothing!" Piccolo said with just as much frustration.

"Now, I had a little trick that I had wanted to share with you, remember?" Raditz said as he turned back to Piccolo. "It's the one I was going to show you when we first met."

"Yeah, I know," Piccolo said, sounding scared. That wasn't good.

"Do you remember the name?" Raditz asked. He lifted up a hand and began charging his energy again, and a ball of light started to glow inside it. "Double Sunday!" he yelled, and was about to unleash his attack, but was suddenly cut short.

They all looked past him to find that during this time, Goku had managed to sneak up behind him and nab him by the tail! He chuckled merrily at his success.

"You were careless. I'll never forget how much my tail hurt when someone squeezed it!" Goku confessed, and bared down on the tail. Raditz howled in pain, before collapsing to the ground.

"You shouldn't do that," Raditz snarled at him.

"Piccolo! Do you think you can manage that attack one more time?" Goku shouted to him.

"Yes, Goku! With pleasure," Piccolo said with a smile. "I see you had a surprise attack, after all. You sly dog! Now hold him tight. This is the last time I can do this." Piccolo began charging his attack once again.

Rinka brightened. Did this mean they had a second chance now?

"Kakarot, please tell me you're not going to go through with this. I am your brother!" Raditz gasped out.

"Brother?! Don't be ridiculous! You kidnapped my kids, and you tried to kill me! And if I remember right, you said you were going to exterminate every human on this planet," Goku reminded him.

"I was bluffing. I would have done or said anything to get you to join us, I swear it!" Raditz argued.

"Don't listen to him, Goku! He'll say anything to get loose!" Piccolo yelled in argument.

"I was never going to kill you or your kids. Once I was sure that I couldn't persuade you to join us, I – I was going to leave this planet, for good. And that's the truth! I could never hurt my own flesh and blood, I swear! I swear it, Kakarot," Raditz begged.

Even Rinka wanted to believe he was telling the truth, but how he had acted before filled her with more doubt than hope.

"Do you promise to leave?" Goku asked.

"Yes, of course it's over. I'll tell the others that you won't join," Raditz assured him.

"No Goku! He's trying to trick you! Don't let him go!" Piccolo implored.

"Ahh! I'll never come back to this planet again, I promise!" Raditz continued to plead.

Goku's grip on the tail began to weaken, until he had completely released it from his grasp.

"No Goku!" Piccolo tried to stop him, but it was too late.

His actions met with almost immediate regret, as Raditz sprang up and delivered a wicked blow with his elbow right into the middle of Goku's face! He flew backwards, landing prostrate on the ground once again. Raditz instantly sprang at him, shoving his boot into Goku's ribs. He began letting out choked cries of pain, while Raditz laughed at his ignorance.

"Daddy!" Rinka shouted, again making a move to rush over to help.

"Rin, no!" Goku told her weakly, holding out a hand to discourage her from coming any closer.

"But, daddy," Rinka moaned, eyes welling up with tears at her helplessness.

"You've always been way too trusting, Goku!" Piccolo lectured him, while he continued to shout in pain under Raditz' heel.

"Fool! How could you?!" he demanded. "You're a rare breed indeed, my brother. Such a sentimental dope. You're way too soft to be a Saiyan warrior."

"No fair," Goku whined.

"You're right, Kakarot. But I myself am a first-class warrior, and I won't hesitate to kill. Even my own brother, if need be. Now say goodbye," Raditz told him.

He stepped down so hard on Goku's chest, that Rinka could actually hear all the ribs cracking. Her eyes went wide in terror, while Goku let out his most painful scream yet!

"Come on! I want to hear you beg!" Raditz continued his onslaught. "Beg for mercy!"

Rinka was really crying now. Terrified at her father's pain, and wishing there was something she could do to make it stop! But, every time she tried, he would just tell her 'no'. She didn't know what to do!

"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and try that little trick of yours again, or can't you handle it?" he taunted Piccolo.

"Ugh! It's no use! I need more time!" Piccolo lamented.

"Come on, Kakarot!" Raditz hollered as Goku continued to yell out in pain. "I want to hear you beg!" he told him again. "Go on, just say 'uncle'! Uncle, ha ha. Just look at that fool," he said, turning to Piccolo. "Why so blue, green man? Is it because you're powerless to help your friend? Or cuz you're just plain ugly?" Raditz sighed. "I guess you're not going to beg for me. You're such a disappointment, brother!" Raditz lifted a finger into the air. "Time to die!" he screamed, readying his final blow.

Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, Rinka suddenly heard a loud crash come from behind her, followed by an explosion! She flipped around just in time to see none other than Gohan bust out from inside the space craft, debris flying everywhere! He leapt into the air and landed on the ground next to her.

"Huh?" Piccolo looked shocked.

"What?" Raditz demanded, just as dumbfounded.

* * *

**Whoo! That was still a lot of intro! Hopefully the subtle changes will still make it interesting to read.**


	4. The Death of a Hero

**Alright! Now we're finally going to finish the first battle! So, let's get to it!**

* * *

"Uh! You! I don't believe it!" Raditz shouted at Gohan.

"Gohan! What. . .?" Rinka tried to talk to him, but he didn't seem to be listening. He just stared with rage-filled eyes at the man who was causing his father pain. She felt like she was at a loss for words, until she looked back over at her dad.

"Daddy, what's happening to Gohan?" she asked nervously, but he was in too much pain to answer.

"It – can't be," Raditz said, with a baffled tone.

"Gohan," Goku was finally able to find his voice. "Daddy can't get up right now," he tried to tell him, but then his gaze shifted to his daughter. "Rinka – take Gohan and run – run away from here," he ordered.

"No! I'm not going to leave you," she argued.

"You don't get a say in this, Rin! You have to run! Do it – for Gohan," he lectured, trying to convince her.

Rinka scowled, but finally obeyed. She scrambled over to her little brother and tried to pick him up. However, that was easier said than done! He not only resisted her pull, but was able to throw her off of him in his anger. Rinka just stared at him in surprise. What was she supposed to do now?

"Ah! Power level 1,370!" Raditz suddenly exclaimed, his little machine beeping like crazy. "Impossible for a kid! And – it's still going up!" he began looking very nervous.

Rinka's eyes kept darting back and forth between her brother and her uncle. How was it possible? Was her little brother really that strong? Everyone looked shocked when Gohan began glowing an eerie shade of red. Rinka hobbled a couple of steps backwards, but never took her eyes off him.

"Leave my dad – ALONE!" Gohan suddenly shouted and burst into a blinding flash.

He rocketed himself off the ground in a ball of light, screaming and crying at the same time, and aiming himself right towards Raditz. Until finally, his head collided with him, nailing him right in the center of his chest. He didn't seem to be enjoying it much, crying out in pain and reeling from the shock of the impact.

"Ah! What the–!?" he exclaimed angerly, putting a hand up to his chest.

Meanwhile, Gohan dropped to the ground with a grunt. He sat up, looking a little disoriented, to see his father staring at him with a look of complete amazement! Rinka was sporting a similar expression, feeling stunned.

"Ga – Gohan?" Goku stuttered at him.

"Uh, daddy?" Gohan asked, getting up and acting perfectly normal, like nothing had happened!

"Gohan – go! Get out of here!" Goku insisted. But instead of listening to his father, Gohan just began to tear up again.

"But daddy. . ." he whined.

Goku turned back to Rinka. She could tell he was about to snap at her again, but unfortunately, he never got the chance. Because at that moment, Raditz began stalking back towards them.

"No one's ever done – that – to me!" It sounded like he was having a hard time getting his wind back.

"No! Stay back!" Goku warned. But it was obviously an empty threat, and Raditz ignored him. He was completely focused on Gohan, scanning him with his little reader.

"What?! Hey kid, what happened to all that power you had?" he demanded at Gohan.

"Wha – what power?" Gohan asked, looking bewildered.

"Bah! Play dumb if you want! You'll pay all the same," he threatened.

"Daddy – help," Gohan squeaked out as Raditz advanced on him.

Well, Rinka had, had about all she could take. If this guy thought she was just going to stand there while he hurt her little brother, he had another thing coming! She dove in front of Gohan, putting herself between him and the enraged Saiyan warrior.

"Don't you touch my brother!" she barked at him, putting out her arms and using her energy to create a force-field around them both.

"Rin?" she heard her brother whimper behind her, but she kept a stern glare locked on their enemy.

This didn't seem to deter Raditz, as he brought a fist up, getting ready to strike anyway.

"Leave them alone!" Goku yelled at him, but he wasn't listening.

Raditz brought the fist down hard, and already Rinka could feel the drain on her energy. The shield flickered under the strain and Rinka grimaced. He then began a relentless barrage of pounding fists against her meager defense. Her body flinched with each blow, trying to keep up the shield, but she was inevitability being slowly forced down. Until finally, her power gave out, and she had no choice but to drop her arms, and the force-field.

Exhaustion overtook her, and she knelt there, trembling. But not for long. Raditz didn't waste any time before continuing his assault. He delivered a devastating blow with a closed fist, right to the side of Rinka's head.

A mass of color exploded across her vision as she was sent flying through the open field. She thought she heard her father yell her name, but everything was going dark. For the briefest moments, she had a sickening feeling that he was going to do the same thing to Gohan, but she wasn't able to stay conscious long enough to witness it.

. . .

It was the sound of another explosion that finally roused Rinka out of her stupor. She felt that she was still lying outside on the grass, but the rest of her surroundings were foggy. And she thought her head had hurt before, it was nothing compared to now! She reached up and rubbed at it, before finally managing to sit up and open her eyes. What came into her vision was not an encouraging sight.

A quick sweep made it instantly clear – Raditz was down, but so was her father. Rinka tried to stand, but her legs felt wobbly. She didn't want to wait for them though, and managed to stumble over to her father's side. Her eyes went wide in shock, and she let out an audible gasp when she saw the state he was in. There was a giant hole in the middle of his torso, and blood was pouring profusely out of it, creating a dark, red pool in the grass.

"Daddy, no!" She collapsed onto her knees next to him. Her face hovering just over his as tears flooded her vision. "Daddy, daddy!" she begged, not really knowing what else to say.

Goku glanced up at her, and struggled to lift his arm. Slowly, he succeeded in bringing his hand up to her face, cupping her cheek. Rinka reached up and grabbed his wrist, to keep his hand from slipping.

"Rin – don't worry. It's – gonna be okay," he tried to comfort her with a small smile, despite it being painful to speak.

"I'm so sorry, daddy," she sobbed. "Maybe if I had been stronger. . ." she trailed.

"No, Rin. This isn't – your fault. Please don't – blame yourself," he assured her.

"Kakarot, how could he? It – makes no sense! The fool! Now we're both dead," they heard Raditz cough and grunt out a small distance away. Rinka blinked up at him. She hadn't realized he was still alive.

"No. You die alone," Piccolo told him haughtily, before strolling over next to him. "Goku won't be gone for long. I'm guessing his friends will see to it he's back within the week."

"What? That's impossible! Tell me – how?" Raditz asked in disbelief.

"Gladly," Piccolo humphed. "On this planet, we have something that we call the Dragonballs. When all seven balls are gathered together, they have the power to grant any wish. And that includes bringing the dead back to life," he explained.

Oh yes! That's right! They still had the Dragonballs! Rinka had almost forgotten. She looked back down at her father. It was still heart-wrenching, seeing him dying right in front of her like this, but she knew it wasn't the end. He would be back with them soon enough. She rubbed her face into his hand affectionately.

"So you see, it's Goku who will have the last laugh," Piccolo finished.

However, a strange noise that sounded kind of like laughing, started to come from Raditz. It was punctuated by pained grunting, but it was still unnerving all the same.

"No, I'm afraid you're wrong, green man. This device on my face, it's – it's also a transmitter. My Saiyan comrades heard every single word," Raditz boasted.

"Huh?" Piccolo asked, his smug attitude suddenly gone.

"The two of them, now they'll come. I know – they will," Raditz coughed up a mouthful of blood, making Rinka grimace and turn her head. "They will – I know they will. And once they arrive – you'll be powerless to stop them. There's nothing you can do. They'll seek out these Dragonballs, and they'll destroy everything in their path," Raditz told him.

Wait – there were more of them?! Rinka's hands gripped tighter around her father's wrist, her face was a picture of horror. Her father had to _sacrifice_ himself in order to beat just this one! What were they going to do when more showed up?!

"You – and every living thing – on this planet – will be wiped out. They'll destroy you all!" he chuckled darkly.

"When? When will they come?!" Goku asked quickly, his hand going slightly more rigid around his daughter's face. "How long – will it take them – to get here?" he lifted his head to look at the defeated Saiyan.

"One year – and the funny thing is," he began laughing again. "They're much stronger than me!" he bragged.

Great. . . So all they did here was postpone their inevitability demise by a year?! Rinka thought she might be sick! Piccolo looked like he might be sick!

"Stronger. . ." he trailed. "One year – oh no!"

"So – enjoy – this little victory of yours, today. It means – it means nothing. You're as good as dead," Raditz snapped. "I only hope – I'm back in time – to see it happen." Piccolo just growled back at him. "Don't look – so upset. We can't – all have the last laugh," he finished, before laughing maniacally one more time.

It was clear Piccolo had, had enough. He raised his remaining hand, charged up his power – and just like that, Raditz was no more.

"Thanks for the warning," Piccolo grumbled. "We'll deal with your Saiyan friends just like we dealt with you," he assured his corpse. "Goku," he said, turning and heading in their direction. "It's over. He's gone." As if that hadn't been obvious!

A sudden commotion above them grabbed their attention. It was a Capsule Corp. airship, and it was coming in for a landing near their little, disheveled group. It barely had a moment to touch down before Krillin leapt out and dashed over to Goku's other side, Bulma and Master Roshi right behind him. They all gaped in horror at him.

"Oh no!" Krillin hit his knees, taking Goku's other hand in his. "You're going to make it, Goku. You can pull through," he told him, trying to sound encouraging.

"No, Krillin," Master Roshi shook his head.

"He can! Can't you, Goku! Just tell him!" Krillin exclaimed, refusing to give up on his best friend. "Say something!" he demanded when Goku didn't respond.

Meanwhile, Bulma hurried over to check on Gohan. "Well, Gohan's still unconscious, but otherwise I think he's okay," she assured them. "What about you, Rin? How are you doing?" she asked.

"I've – been better," she confessed. "Not really hurt, though," she mumbled when Bulma gave her a concerned look. The others nodded in acknowledgment. Their attention snapped back to Goku when he let out a sigh.

"That's good," he said, his breathing ragged.

"Goku," Krillin whispered.

"Chi Chi'd kill me – if he got – got hurt," he said with a halfhearted chuckle.

"That isn't funny, daddy!" Rinka lectured him with a glare. She couldn't believe him, making death jokes at a time like this! He just smiled back up at her.

"Goku," Bulma sobbed out behind them.

"K-Krillin," Goku wheezed, Krillin leaned in closer to hear him better. "Please take – care of – Rinka and G-Gohan for me," he requested.

Krillin's gazed lifted, and his eyes locked with Rinka's. "Yeah," he agreed with a smile before looking back at Goku. "Sure buddy – but – it's not gonna come to that, okay!" Krillin told him, sounding almost angry. "You're gonna make it, and that's all there is to it!"

"Krillin!" Master Roshi warned.

"No – not this time friend. This time – I can't. . ." Goku trailed off.

"I'll wish you back, Goku," Krillin promised. "We already have three Dragonballs," he reminded him. Goku gave him one last grin.

"I'll see you – soon. . ." Goku then closed his eyes, and was gone.

Rinka's tears began pouring out fresh, and she buried her face in her father's hand. Even though she knew she'd see him again, this still wasn't easy. She was going to miss her daddy!

"Goku," she heard Krillin say, his voice trembling. "Goku!" he screamed, tears of his own falling onto her father's already tattered shirt. Rinka glanced up at him and blinked. She'd never seen a grown man cry before. It was almost as hard to watch as her father's last breath. Strangely, she felt as if she should do something to comfort him, but then again, she didn't really know him all that well.

It wasn't exactly helping her own sorrow, though. Especially when he started shaking him. "No, Goku! You can't die! You can't!" he wailed.

"He's gone," Master Roshi tried to tell him.

"No this – this can't be happening!" Bulma sobbed, picking up Gohan and moving closer to the group. "I don't believe it!"

The hand that Rinka had pressed to her face felt – lighter all of sudden. She looked down to see her father's body go all transparent, before it abruptly disappeared all together!

"Gah!" she exclaimed, and jumped back a bit in surprise.

"Look! He's disappearing! What in the world?!" Master Roshi said, sounding just as shocked.

"The—that's not normally supposed to happen, is it?" Rinka asked nervously.

"No, that's a new one for me," Krillin agreed.

"I know. It was Kami," Piccolo told them, smirking up at the sky.

"Huh, Kami?" Krillin asked.

"The guardian of the Earth. I think you both know him," Piccolo explained, indicating Krillin and Master Roshi. "Yes, this is his work. No doubt Kami has some special purpose in mind for Goku."

"Do you think so?" Bulma wondered, staring at the place where Goku had once been. "So, Kami took him?"

"That's right. That meddling, old fool," Piccolo muttered. Bulma glanced up at him. "I don't know why, and to be honest, I really don't care," he said, as if predicting that she was going to ask. "Goku's dead either way," he stated before going to pick up his discarded clothing.

"What do you think, Master Roshi?" Krillin asked.

"Hmmm, Kami is the guardian of the Earth. Whatever he's doing, we can at least take comfort in knowing his intentions are good," Roshi assured him. As he was speaking, Krillin moved over and picked Gohan's hat up from off the ground, along with the four-star Dragonball.

"Yeah, well, I for one will take a lot more comfort once we find the rest of the Dragonballs, and wish Goku back," he said, glaring down at the ball.

"Ugh! We really could use Yamcha's help right now, but as usual, he's never around," Bulma snapped.

Yamcha? Rinka had heard that name before. Wasn't he one of her father's friends, too? If that was the case, why hadn't he been at Master Roshi's with the others?

"Cause you dumped him, right?" Krillin reminded her snidely. Well, that would explain it.

"Hey, how was this Raditz guy able to find Goku? I mean, the world's a big place, but he came right to him," Bulma realized, while quickly changing the subject.

"That little screen on his face," Rinka suddenly spoke up. She'd been pretty quiet throughout all this, but thought she could interject with this information. She stood up and brushed herself off, although it did her little good, as the Kimono was pretty much soiled beyond recognition. "It's a device that can sense energy levels, or something, especially strong ones. And it can tell him exactly where they are," she explained.

Bulma appeared intrigued, and moved over closer to the dead alien, trying to get a better look. She handed Gohan off to Master Roshi.

"Come here, Krillin," she instructed him.

He set Gohan's hat on top of the boy with a 'here' and quickly followed after her. "Okay, what?" he asked. They stared over the dead Saiyan.

"Alright, now reach down there and pull that off his face," she ordered. Krillin didn't look real pleased with the idea.

"Ugh! You gotta be kidding!" he protested, but did it anyway. "If I had known that, that was what you wanted –" he muttered.

Well, wasn't he the compliant one, Rinka noticed with a smirk.

After several seconds of 'ewww-ing' and groaning, Krillin managed to pull it off. "Here," he snapped, passing the thing to Bulma.

"Now, let's see here," she said, putting the screen in front of her eye. "There we go," she pointed the machine at Krillin and it started beeping. She began hitting the button on the side, probably cycling through several settings.

"Does it work?" Krillin wondered.

"I think it's been damaged," she told him, pulling a little tool kit out of her pocket. "I'm gonna check the circuitry," she explained. One of the tools was a tiny screwdriver. Rinka moved closer to get a better look at what she was doing. Bulma smiled at her and moved her hands down so she could see.

"Wow, this is pretty cool stuff," she decided, after popping off the outer case and poking at the interior machinery. "There's definitely a short in here, but I think I can fix it."

"How can you tell it's a short?" Rinka wondered.

"Because it still turns on. You see this?" Bulma used the little tool to point at what looked like a light. "All of the others in here are flashing, but this one looks dead. These are the wires that should connect it to the power source, but it's not getting any. So I'm guessing it's a short in one of these conduits here," she tapped at them. Rinka nodded that she understood. "I'll reprogram it too. I think I can get it to display numbers in our own language."

"Wow Bulma, you're a genius!" Krillin decided.

"Don't worry, I know," she said smiling at him. "Now, let's get back to Master Roshi's. Once I've fixed this, we can find Yamcha and maybe Tien too," she told him. "They can help us find the Dragonballs."

"Well, let's get going then. We have a lot of work to do," Roshi encouraged.

"Okay, but we should take Rinka and Gohan home on the way," Bulma reminded them.

Rinka groaned quietly and let out a sigh. Part of her had been hoping that they would forget about that. She wasn't exactly in a hurry to get home!

"Yeah, and while we're at it, we can pick up the other two Dragonballs that Goku found," Krillin added.

"Piccolo, I guess we'll be seeing ya," Master Roshi offered for a farewell.

They all turned to look at him, and were startled to see the very serious expression on his face. He was glaring at them, and seemed to be charging up his energy. Krillin tried to take several steps backwards, but ended up bumping into Rinka instead. He jumped slightly before turning to look at her. Then quickly pulled her to his side in a more-or-less defensive position.

Turns out, they didn't really need to worry. As he was apparently just – regenerating his missing arm! Because it suddenly popped out of the stump, looking all slimy, but otherwise whole again. He flexed it and moved his fingers, testing the new limb.

"Whoa!" It was all Rinka could manage to say. _How did he do that_? She wondered. Everyone else looked just as stunned, and unnerved.

"That's a handy trick," Krillin mumbled.

"Before you leave, I have a request to make. This'll sound strange, but try to put your emotions aside. I want Goku's son to come with me for special training," Piccolo announced to everyone.

"What?!" Master Roshi exclaimed.

"No way!" Krillin snapped. "You can't fool me, mister! 'Special training'," he said skeptically. "You just wanna gobble him up!" he accused.

Rinka snorted at the comment. She couldn't help it! It was just too absurd. Krillin looked down at her in surprise.

"Don't be ridiculous," she told him, pushing away from his iron grip. "He probably just wants Gohan to help fight the other Saiyans when they get here," she explained. However, that only seemed to raise more questions.

"What – other – Saiyans?" Bulma asked her slowly.

"Uhhh, oh yeah. So before he died, Raditz sorta mentioned that, that energy reader thingy is also a communication device. He said he has a couple more Saiyan buddies who heard everything that happened here. He said that they were gonna come and avenge him, or something, and that they'd be here in a year. Oh, and also, he said they are even stronger than he is. . ." Rinka kinda trailed off in her explanation when she realized that the expressions on her audience were growing more and more grim.

"The girl is right, which is why we need every advantage we can get. Earlier today this boy showed signs that he might be the most powerful person on this planet. I think I can teach him to control his power, so he can use it to help us defend the earth when the other Saiyans arrive. It is a long shot, he might still be too young, we'll see," Piccolo further explained.

"Yeah, he's probably too young," Krillin tried to persuade him.

"Right, I wouldn't chance it if I were you," Bulma added, laughing nervously.

"Whadaya mean? Dad started training me as soon as I could walk." Krillin shot her an angry scowl, but she ignored it. "My only worry is that Gohan won't be very cooperative. He'll probably just cry the whole time and won't listen," she warned.

"Sure, what she said. You can't train someone who won't listen," Krillin said.

"He'll listen to me, trust me," Piccolo assured them.

"At any rate, I'd say you'd have to ask the boy's mother," Master Roshi told him.

"I'm not asking! I'm telling!" Piccolo snapped at them all. "Look, nothing else matters right now except beating the other Saiyans in one year. The boy's in good hands," he reassured further. He then proceeded to use telekinetic power to lift Gohan out of Master Roshi's arms and float him over into his own. His hat slipped to the ground once again, and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

"When you wish Goku back, tell him he can look forward to seeing his son one year from now. I'll do what I can with this pampered kid. Hopefully our work will bear fruit. Remember, tell him one year," And with that, Piccolo rose up off the ground to leave.

All of a sudden, Rinka quickly realized that she was getting left behind! What was the deal? Wasn't Piccolo going to take her to train as well?

"Hey!" she shouted, running up to his floating form. "What about me?! I'm Goku's kid too, ya know!" she protested. He just smirked down at her.

"You got spunk, girlie. But spunk isn't enough to cut it with me. This is the big leagues," he jerked a thumb towards himself. "So, go home and play with your dolls," she told her, shooing her away before taking off into the sky. Meanwhile, the others were staring at her like she'd lost her mind.

Rinka huffed and crossed her arms in a pout. "I don't play with _dolls_," she muttered. This wasn't fair! Just because Gohan got all freaked out and powered up. He didn't even remember doing it afterwards! They all watched Piccolo disappear into the distance.

"I never was a good babysitter!" Bulma moaned in despair.

"Now we're done for," Krillin whined. "So who's gonna tell Chi Chi?" he wondered, sounding nervous. They all seemed to freak out at that question. "I couldn't do it. Goku, where are you?" he mumbled. "We really need ya, buddy."

Since there was nothing left to do, they all climbed into Bulma's airship and began the trip back. Krillin sighed as he looked down at the little hat in his lap.

"I guess one of us is gonna have ta tell Chi Chi about Goku and Gohan, huh?" Krillin thought out loud.

"Krillin, you and Goku have always been best friends. You tell her," Master Roshi ordered him.

Krillin started and looked scared. "Me?!" he exclaimed. "No, I'd rather die!" he protested.

"I agree, Krillin. You're definitely the best man for the job," Bulma encouraged. Krillin swallowed hard. He looked as if he were being marched off to his death. Rinka rolled her eyes.

"Are you people serious?!" she demanded. "You're all really that scared of her?" She snatched Gohan's hat out of Krillin's hands. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell her."

Krillin looked over at her, his face filled with hope. "Really, you will?" he asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yes. She's _my_ mother, after all. What could she possibly do to me?" she reasoned.

"That's – a good point. I didn't –" but she didn't give him a chance to finish.

"Just one thing, though. You're going to be training to prepare for the Saiyans too, right?" she asked him, giving him a hard look.

"Well, yeah. Of course, but what. . ." he trailed, not really sure where this was going.

"Let me train with you," she told him flatly.

"What?!" Everyone in the car exclaimed.

"Rinka! You can't do the same kind of training these guys are doing? You're just a little girl!" Bulma argued first.

"And what does that matter? I'm half Saiyan too, remember? Plus Gohan is going to be training, and I'm three years older than him! If he gets to participate, then I should too. It's only fair!" she pouted back.

"Yeah, but your mom'll never let you," Krillin pointed out.

"You let me worry about my mother. So come on, I've already learned a lot from my dad, at least just – give me a chance. I have a right to defend my home as much as the rest of you," she pleaded. Since she'd already been rejected by Piccolo, she didn't really have any other options.

"And, if I say 'no'?" he ventured carefully.

Rinka pressed her lips together, looking sour. "Then I guess that's your choice," she snapped, thrusting the hat back into his hands. She then turned to face the front and crossed her arms irritably.

Krillin fumbled with hat, and for a moment he didn't understand what was happening. He glanced down at the hat, looked back up at Rinka, and it suddenly clicked in his mind. If he said no, was she going to make him. . .

"Wait a minute, are you – blackmailing me?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, Krillin. Are you going to _make_ me blackmail you?" she asked back, in a deceptively calm tone.

He groaned and sighed. "Alright, alright. You can try training with us, and we'll – see how it goes," he consented.

Rinka grinned up at him. "Thanks, Krillin. I'll work really hard, I promise! You won't regret it," she said happily, clapping her hands together in front of her face and bowing her head slightly in a respectful manner.

"Yeah, well, let's hope not," he muttered.

"Well, Rin. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Bulma warned hesitantly.

"Sure, I'm ready for anything! I can handle whatever these guys can dish out!" she boasted confidently.

Krillin's expression relaxed into a smile at her enthusiasm.

* * *

**Yay! Finished! The next chapter will finally have some unique stuff! I can't wait! :)**


	5. Rinka Gets the Runaround!

**Yes! Finally getting into a deviation from the main cannon! So, let's see how this goes.**

* * *

It didn't take too much longer before the airship touched down just in front of the Son house. Bulma popped open the door and Rinka began to climb out. However, she hesitated when she realized that no one was making a move to get out with her. Okay, so, maybe she was feeling just a little anxious about breaking the bad news to her mom, especially if she had to do it all by herself!

"Aren't you gonna come with me?" she asked, specifically looking at Krillin.

"Hey, you said you could handle this," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but –" she cast a glance towards the house. "Won't it look kinda bad? Me showing up back home all by myself?" she reasoned, but he still didn't seem convinced. Rinka's face contorted into a scowl. "You could at least walk me to the door," she suggested moodily.

Krillin's shoulders sagged in a display of defeat. "Fine, I'll walk you to your door," he consented.

He followed her out of the ship and walked along beside her. Rinka subconsciously reached up and grabbed his hand. He flinched at the touch and looked down at her in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that! She didn't return his gaze, just stared straight ahead with a stern expression. She seemed nervous.

_Huh, maybe she isn't quite as tough as she makes herself out to be_, he thought. Well, he admitted that made him feel a little bit better. She had made them all feel like wimps before! But he also felt a small twinge of guilt, it didn't really seem right to be putting all of this on her. He was glad he at least agreed to come with her. He returned her grip with a reassuring squeeze.

Once they were at the door, Rinka let out a long sigh before letting go of Krillin and twisting the knob to enter the house. Meanwhile, Krillin had a thought that it might be a good idea to return to the airship before the hammer dropped. However, a morbid since of curiosity kept him in his place. Not to mention, he didn't want to just completely abandon Rinka if things turned particularly sour.

"Mom? I'm home," Rinka called uncertainly, glancing around the entry way. It took only half a second for her mother to come thundering up to her.

"Rinka?!" she hollered back in confusion, and then switched to a very angry expression when she spotted her. "Rin! There you are! What on earth is going on?!" she asked, wildly glancing around. "Where is your father? Where's my Gohan?!" she demanded.

"They're – not here," Rinka told her dumbly. She was still trying to figure out the best way to go about saying this.

"What do you mean: 'they're not here'?! Did you seriously come all the way back here by yourself?!" she yelled.

"No, the others are outside," Rinka told her.

"What are you saying? What others? You're not making any sense! Why aren't they here? Why would you come back without them?" Chi Chi attempted to push past her daughter to get outside to see what she was talking about, but Rinka held her back and managed to stop her.

"Mom, wait! I can explain, just give me a second," she grunted against the strain.

"Explain what?! How your irresponsible father has kept you both out way longer than he should have hanging out with his friends, and what? Did he send you ahead to try and butter me up so I won't get mad? Well it's too late for that! He's gonna hear it from me whether he likes it or not!" she lectured.

"Now Chi Chi, please try to calm down," the Ox King said, as he came up behind her to see for himself what all the commotion was about. Rinka blinked up at him in surprise. She hadn't realized he was there.

"Stay out of this, dad," she snapped at him, and he fell silent.

"No, mom, it's not like that. It's –" Rinka paused for a moment. "I don't exactly know how to say this, so I guess I'll just say it. Dad's – gone."

Even after everything that had happened, it was still hard to say. Rinka could feel herself tearing up just thinking about it. Her mom must have noticed her going all bleary-eyed, because her posture relaxed a bit and she looked concerned.

"What do you mean, 'he's gone'? What's going on, sweetie, what's wrong?" Chi Chi asked in a kinder tone. Rinka didn't cry very often, but whenever she did, she could usually get a little motherly affection out of the normally tempestuous woman.

"Well, we were hanging out on Master Roshi's island, when this bad man suddenly appeared. . ." Rinka then went on to explain to her mother all of the events that had transpired that afternoon. What they had learned about their father from Raditz, how he had kidnapped her and Gohan, and how Goku had teamed up with Piccolo to try and fight him to get them back. Then about how two more Saiyans were on their way to earth right now.

"Daddy and Piccolo were able to beat him, but mom – dad – he – he didn't make it. And then after that, Piccolo took Gohan with him for special training, so he can prepare for the other bad guys who are coming. So, I'm guessing we probably won't see them for a while, and – that's the whole story," Rinka finally finished.

Chi Chi just stood stone still, staring at her daughter. She didn't speak for a full minute. Until finally, her face broke into a huge smile, but one that didn't seem to have any kind of happiness or humor behind it. It was a similar sensation to right before a kettle begins to boil, and Rinka felt herself subconsciously take a few steps back.

"Oh, Rinka honey. You really shouldn't be making up stories like that. Now please, would you just – tell me where your father is?" she asked with false sweetness, slowly advancing on her.

Rinka continued to back away. "But mom, I'm not making it up! It all really happened! Just ask the others," Rinka protested.

She had backed all the way outside at this point, and glanced behind her to see if she could get some support. Master Roshi and Bulma had exited the airship and were waiting next to it to see what would happen, and Krillin was still standing by the door. So since he was the closest, Chi Chi naturally rounded on him first.

"Krillin?! What is going on?! Where are Goku and Gohan?! What is my daughter rambling on about?!" she demanded, appearing terrifyingly enraged.

Krillin looked extremely uncomfortable and put his hands up as a measure of defense. "Chi Chi! Well, I, Rin, uh – s-she, what she – uh. . ." he was trying to talk, but couldn't quite seem to get the words out.

"Stop babbling and answer me! WHERE ARE THEY!?" she screamed at him.

Krillin flinched hard and began cowering under her wrathful glare. The others looked startled as well, and that's when Master Roshi finally decided to intervene. Cane in hand, he slowly walked up to the fearsome woman, and she turned her piercing gaze onto him.

By this time, Ox King had come out of the house as well. He cast a wide grin in the direction of his old mentor, before getting on his hands and knees and bowing in a sign of respect.

"It's so good to see you, Master Roshi! My finest memories are still of when you taught me as a boy," he told him merrily.

"You were a good pupil," Roshi agreed, but then let out a long, deep sigh. "I'm really sorry to have to tell you both this, but Rinka isn't making up stories. What she is saying is all true. Goku, is gone, and the Earth is in great danger once again," he confessed sadly to them.

They both looked quite shocked at the news, finally understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"AH! You guys seriously let that green monster take my son!?" Chi Chi shrieked.

"So, your saying that Goku really had to – I mean – that's he's really –" Ox King stuttered out.

"Yep, he's uh – dead," Master Roshi just finally admitted.

Chi Chi stood trembling for moment, before eventually turning blue in the face and passing out cold.

"Whoa! Chi Chi!" Ox King exclaimed, kneeling down by her side. He looked up with a sheepish expression. "Uh, get the smelling salts, Krillin," he requested.

"Uh," Krillin glanced unsurely back at the house.

"Oh, never mind, I'll get them," Rinka said with a sigh and headed inside. "Well, it could've gone worse," she mumbled to them as she went.

. . .

It took a little time, but eventually Ox King was able to get Chi Chi revived and calmed down. Well, a bit anyway. She still kind of looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Since her grandfather seemed to be keeping her mother under control, Rinka left her side and moved back over to where the others were gathered.

"Welp, not much more we can do here. It's time we headed back home. There's still a lot of work to be done, and no time like the present to get started," Master Roshi said to them all.

They all headed to Bulma's airship in response, except for Rinka. Krillin stopped and turned to her when he realized she wasn't following.

"You coming, Rin?" he wondered.

"Not just yet. I've got some packing to do if I'm going to be away from home for a year. You guys go ahead, and I'll meet you back at Kame house when I'm ready," she explained, then glanced off towards the horizon to see that the sun was starting to set. "Probably tomorrow," she added.

Krillin glanced behind her towards her still nearly-panicking mother. "You sure you're gonna be okay just you and your mom?" he asked.

Rinka smiled in response. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure grandpa will spend the night tonight, considering. . ." she trailed.

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow then," he finished, getting into the airship with the others and taking off.

Rinka took a couple steps back as the wind from the motors blew her hair around. She waved farewell, and stood watching until they were out of sight. Turning back to the task at hand, she then hurried inside to begin getting her things together.

A few minutes later, a commotion outside her room told her that her mother must have finally recovered and come back inside. She hobbled across the threshold of Rinka's door, looking somber.

"How could you – how could you let this happen to your little brother? You're his big sister, you're supposed to help take care of him," her mother lamented.

"I know that, mom! And I tried, I really did, but I just wasn't strong enough. I didn't have a choice!" Rinka paused for a moment to let that sink in. "But – starting now, that's all gonna change! I'm going to train with Krillin and Master Roshi, so that when the other Saiyans come, and next time something like this happens, I'll actually be able to do something to help!" she declared. Chi Chi seemed to reel at that.

"What?! Rinka, what are you saying?! There is no way I'm letting you go off to train to fight some aliens! It's out of the question!" she lectured.

"Mom, you said it yourself! I wasn't strong enough to protect Gohan like I'm supposed to. So, that's exactly what I plan on doing a year from now. I need to get stronger, so that I can look after Gohan like a good big sister. Just like you always want me to," she argued. Her mother's face soften a bit at her logic.

"Yes, but – Rinka, it's so dangerous," she reasoned.

"I know that, but I'm my father's daughter, after all," she said, putting a fist up and cupping the other hand around her bicep. "I'm sure I can handle it," she tried to reassure her.

"And what about your studies? You're going to fall behind," she reminded her.

"Don't worry about that. I'll take my books and my laptop. I'll be sure and get some work done too," she promised.

Meanwhile, Ox King came into view behind his daughter, gripping her shoulders in his giant hands.

"Come on, Chi Chi. You should let the girl train. You can tell she really wants to, and I bet you're going to have a hard time stopping her. Martial Arts runs in the family, after all," Ox King reasoned with a big grin.

"Well, I suppose you may have a point, and if she'll be able to help keep my Gohan safe – but I still don't have to like it!" she decided, crossing her arms and turning away in a huff.

"Never mind your mom," her grandpa told her after she'd left. "She just worries about you, but you're gonna do great, training under Master Roshi just like I did! I'm so proud, and I know your daddy will be too," he praised.

"Thanks grandpa. I hope I can live up to your expectations," Rinka said.

"I'm sure you will. We'll make a fighter out of you yet!" he beamed down at her, before scooping her up into a big bear hug.

. . .

The next morning, Rinka woke up bright and early to head out to the island. She said her farewells to her mom and grandfather, and carried a bed roll along with a bag out to the front of the house. She had undergone a change in wardrobe into a more practical outfit. She was now dressed head to toe in black – black strapped on sandals, black cargo pants, and a black cropped shirt with capped sleeves that showed off a section of her mid drift. She didn't actually own a legit Karategi, so this would have to do.

Strapped onto her back was a backpack that contained her study materials among some other things, along with her father's power pole. She figured she may as well take it as not, he wouldn't been needing it anytime soon, after all.

Rinka took a few steps forward and looked up into the sky. "Nimbus!" she called out loud and clear, and in moments, the magical golden cloud appeared before her. She grinned happily when it did. She'd never tried calling the Nimbus herself before, but she had hoped that through some process of inheritance that it would respond to her as it did her father. It seemed she had hoped correctly.

Rinka tossed her belongings onto the back of the cloud before hopping onto the front of it herself. She turned to see her mother and grandfather had come out to see her off.

"Good luck with your training, Rin. I hope you have a good time!" Ox King called to her.

"Thanks grandpa, I'll try," she told him.

"Rinka – please be careful," Chi Chi pleaded one last time.

"I will mom, I promise," Rinka assured her. And with that, she took off into the sky.

"Bye! I'll see you both again in a year!" she shouted to them, before disappearing over the horizon.

It didn't take long before Rinka once again descended on the little island, but this time feeling wiser and considerably more grown up. Master Roshi was lounging outside in a chair next to his house. He had his nose buried in the usual risque material. Rinka tried not to look too closely at it when she hopped down beside him.

"Hello again, Master Roshi," she said with a respectful bow. "Where's Krillin? I figured you two would have already started training," she wondered.

"Ah, Rinka. There you are." He set his magazine down and rose to greet her. "So about that, there's been a slight change in plans. We had a visit from Yajirobe yesterday with a message from Korin. He and all of your father's friends are supposed to be meeting at his tower for special training," he explained.

"Korin tower? Isn't that where Kami lives, the – guardian of Earth guy?" she wondered.

"That's right. Guess he's got something in mind for more than just your father," Roshi told her.

"So, does that mean I'm supposed to go there too?" she asked.

"Hmmm, not really sure. He didn't mention you in his message like the others. . ." he trailed.

"But, Krillin said I could train with him! Could you tell me how to get to the tower?" she requested.

"Well – I don't know, Rin. That's a long journey to make for such a young girl by herself. Besides, I'm not sure it's such a good idea to try and go to the Lookout uninvited," he debated, rubbing at his chin.

Rinka frowned at him. "Please just tell me, Master Roshi. I'm going one way or another, and it'll save me the trouble of having to try and find it myself. Plus, I'm stronger than I look. I'll be fine," she assured him.

"Oh, very well then," He consented, after realizing there was nothing he could do to stop her. He pointed off towards the east. "If you just keep heading in that direction, you'll eventually come across a large, stone pillar that seems to reach into space. That's Korin's tower. The Lookout sits at the very top," he instructed.

"Thanks Master Roshi," Rinka said with a small smile. "Oh, and, before I go." She slung the backpack off her shoulders and opened the top zipper, pulling out two small, orange orbs and handing them to him. "I went ahead and brought these from my house to go with the other one."

"Thank you, Rin. I'll keep them safe until the time comes to wish Goku back," he told her.

She replaced the backpack and leapt back onto the waiting Nimbus. "You're welcome! See you later!" she called and was off once again.

. . .

High atop Korin tower, the other members of the Z warriors have gathered. Eagerly, they await their first martial arts training session with the one and only Kami. They were all taking serious stances in a kind of face-off. Krillin, Yamcha, and Yajirobe on one side, while Tien and Chiaotzu stood on the other.

"I'm glad to see that you two guys were called up. This is great! I'm totally psyched!" Yamcha said, almost giddy with anticipation.

"Me too! It'll be a treat. This training should be excellent," Tien added.

"Um-hmm," Krillin nodded in agreement.

"Nice crib!" Yajirobe called out, ruining the moment. "I'll bet the food's good."

Krillin glared at him. "We're not here for a barbeque, Yajirobe," he lectured.

Suddenly, there was a loud rushing of air to one side of the Lookout, disturbing the peaceful tranquility of the place. All eyes turned to see a flash of gold break through the cloud cover, and zoom over right beside them. They all took a hesitant step back, not knowing what to expect. However, after a moment, they were all able to see that it was a little girl riding a Nimbus cloud. Everyone blinked at her in surprise.

"What the. . .? Who's the kid?" Tien asked, finding his voice first.

Rinka took this opportunity for a dramatic introduction. She leapt off the cloud, did a single flip in the air, and landed gently on the tile below. She then unsheathed the power pole, and stuck it to the ground like she was claiming it as her territory.

"Greetings! I am Rinka! First-born to Son Goku, at your service!" she announced dramatically, and proceeded to give them all a very flourished bow.

Everyone just stared, unsure of how to respond, except for Krillin. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't you think that was just a bit over the top, Rin?" he asked.

"Sorry. I've always wanted to do that," she told him with a big grin.

"Oh, so this is one of Goku's kids that you were telling us about?" Yamcha clarified with Krillin. "His daughter, huh? Well, look at you," he squatted down in front of her. "Riding in on a Nimbus cloud with the power pole. I could'a sworn that I was having déjà vu from when we were kids," he chuckled and Rinka smiled at him. "Just like your daddy, huh? You're like his spitting image, ya know, if he were a girl," he added sheepishly.

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment," she assured him.

"So whatcha doin' here? You come to train with us?" Yamcha asked. His tone was indicative of someone humoring a child. Rinka wasn't real thrilled with him talking down to her like that.

"That is correct," she declared, swinging the power pole around and pointing it at his face. He looked a bit taken aback at the gesture. "My little brother Gohan is already in training with Piccolo, but he left me behind," she muttered the last part. "So, Krillin told me that I could come and train with you instead," she explained in a serious tone.

All eyes then rotated around to peer at Krillin inquisitively. He just chuckled awkwardly, putting a hand behind his head.

"Oh yeah – well – I mean I did tell her that she could try training with me, b–but that was before I knew we were going to be training up here," he stuttered out.

"Well that's just great, Krillin. So now we're gonna be stuck with this runt?" Yajirobe barked irritability.

"Hey! I am not a runt! And I bet I could whoop your ass without even breaking a sweat, fatso!" she shot back at him.

"What did you say?! How dare you talk to me that way! I'm gonna have ta teach you a lesson, you little pipsqueak!" he started to advance on her, but Krillin jumped in front of him before anything could happen.

"Hey, come on. Cool it, Yajirobe! She's just a kid," he tried to reason, putting his arms up and holding him back.

"I don't care! She's gonna pay for that insult," he grunted, trying to push past him.

Meanwhile, Chiaotzu was pulling on Tien's pant-leg, attempting to get his attention. Tien looked down at him.

"Hey Tien, is that girl really going to train with us?" he asked skeptically. "But, she didn't climb the tower like you're supposed to. Isn't that cheating?" he continued, before he had a chance to answer.

"Chiaotzu has a point. She hasn't exactly earned the right to train with Kami," he agreed, then turned to address her directly. "Just because you're Goku's daughter, that doesn't mean you're entitled to special treatment. You need to go back down and climb the tower properly, just like the rest of us. Otherwise, you're not worthy to be up here," Tien lectured harshly, glaring down at the girl.

Rinka met his gaze with a glare of her own. She'd been afraid of this, that they weren't going to take her seriously, either. But she was willing to do whatever it took to earn that respect.

"Alright – fine, I will," she snapped at him. If climbing the tower was how she was going to prove her worth, then that's what she was going to do. She turned away sharply, and set her things down next to a tree that was out of the way.

"I'll be back soon," she assured them all, hopping back onto the now empty Nimbus. With a whoosh, she flew over the side of the Lookout and disappeared into the clouds below.

"Yeah, sure you will," Tien mumbled with a smirk, fully believing that she would never make it back up on her own.

"Hey man, don't you think you were a little hard on her?" Yamcha asked, looking a bit concerned.

"No. I'm sure that'll be nothing compared to how ruthless these Saiyans are going to be. If she's going to be fighting monsters from another planet, then she's gotta prove she can pull her own weight. Otherwise, she's just going to be in the way," he reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess when you put it that way. . ." Yamcha trailed.

Krillin, on the other hand, wasn't convinced. He felt worried about her making that climb all on her own. He really hoped that she would be okay.

Rinka, on the final hand, knew that she would be okay. She knew that she would be able to handle this, no problem. It kinda felt like a waste of time to her, but if this is what it was going to take to make them happy. . .

The bottom of the tower was surrounded by a large forest. Rinka hadn't paid it much mind when she'd flown by the first time, but now she was standing at the base, staring up into the void. It had taken her long enough to fly up by Nimbus. How long would it take to climb? Well, no sense standing around wondering. It was time to get started. She pulled off her black, fingerless gloves in anticipation and tucked them in a back pocket, to give her hands a better grip.

Before she could latch on and begin the climb, a commotion behind her suddenly caught her attention. She flipped around to see a young, native man. He was watching her closely. Once he realized he'd been spotted, he began to approach her.

"Who are you, little girl? And what do you think you're doing here?" he asked cautiously.

She cocked her head and considered him for a moment before answering. "My name is Rinka," she told him.

"Rinka, huh?" he glanced at the tower and back at the girl. "You're not – considering climbing Korin tower, are you?" he asked skeptically.

"Well – yeah," she said like it should be obvious. "Why else would anyone come here?" she reasoned.

"Ha! I've spent my entire life training my body and mind in order to accomplish the feat of climbing the tower, and I have never once succeeded. What makes you think a little kid like you can do it?" he scoffed at her. Rinka glowered back at him.

"Now Upa, you should know better than to mock. What have I taught you about how a man should never judge by outward appearances? Remember that Goku himself was only a child when he first climbed the tower," An older, and more stoutly built man said, as he came from around the other side of the massive pillar.

"That's true, and I should know, being his daughter and all," Rinka mentioned slyly.

"What?! Can it be true? You're really the daughter of Goku?" he asked, sounding dumbfounded.

"That's right, and if you're Upa, that means you must be Bora," she said gesturing to them respectfully. "My daddy told me about you."

"Well, then I am honored to meet you. I see you even possess the tail that Goku once had. So, are you here to follow in your father's footsteps and test your strength?" Bora asked her.

Rinka's expression turned serious. "More than just that. There are some very bad men from another planet heading to Earth as we speak. They are going to try to wipe out all life in the world." Rinka watched their faces grow somber as she gazed up into the sky. "My father's friends are already up there, training to hopefully get strong enough to defeat them before they arrive. They told me I needed to climb the tower too before I could join them," she explained.

"Ah yes, we saw your father's friends arrive and begin the climb very recently. They mentioned something about our world being in jeopardy, but didn't tell us more than that," Bora mentioned.

"Really? Aliens from outer space are coming here?" Upa asked, sounding a bit dubious at the idea. "But why?"

"They heard about the Dragonballs," Rinka stated flatly.

That seemed to be enough explanation for them, as comprehension washed over Upa's face. He understood the power of the Dragonballs all too well, after all.

"Then I suppose you have no time to lose. Just be careful, daughter of Goku. The journey up the tower is a treacherous one indeed," Bora warned.

"Thank you, Bora. I will be," she affirmed.

For a final touch, she pulled out a pair of over-the-ear headphones and placed them on her head, turning her music player to a motivational playlist. _The Mountain_ began blasting in her ears and she leapt at the tower, scampering up it like a lizard across the desert sands. If she could keep up this pace, she'd be able to reach the top in no time!

Hours past, Rinka wasn't sure how long, but she was getting tired, and hungry! Not to mention that the air was getting pretty thin, making it difficult to keep her breath. She knew the breakneck pace was probably not the best idea, but she had a goal. Not only did she want to make it to the top, but she wanted to break her father's record in the process. So, on she climbed, determined to prove herself to them all.

Just when she thought she'd have to slow down, before she risked falling off, a large dome structure suddenly came into view. Rinka grinned at the sight, and used her excitement for a final boost of energy to scramble up and onto the visible landing. She flopped down on her back and heaved, taking a minute to catch her breath before climbing the stairs that lead inside. By now the music player's battery had died, so she put the headphones away.

"Hey! Who goes there?" she suddenly heard a voice calling down to her from above. Rinka glanced up to see where it was coming from.

She saw a lone figure leaning out from the railing that ran all the way around the middle of the dome. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a chubby, little cat holding a wooden staff in his furry, white paws. Rinka rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times, but that didn't seem to change anything. He was still a cat.

She slowly pushed herself up and trudged up the stairs into what appeared to be a little dwelling. The cat-person padded over to greet her.

"Are you – Master Korin?" she asked curiously.

"That's right, little lady," he confirmed, peering at her with slitted eyes.

"Oh, dad never told me you were a kitty," she mentioned casually, before plopping back down onto her backside. She felt exhausted, her arms and legs like jelly. She didn't think she'd ever exerted herself so much in such a short amount of time before.

"So, you must be Goku's daughter. I heard about you. Congratulations on making it up the tower," he praised.

"Thank you," she told him with a small smile.

"Here, eat this. It'll make you feel better," he handed her a little, green bean. A Senzu, she guessed.

"Are you sure I can have one?" she asked hesitantly. She'd heard about the miraculous healing powers that they had, but also how they were rare and difficult to grow.

"You climbed the tower, didn't you? So you've earned it," he encouraged, pressing it into her hand.

Well, if he insisted. Rinka popped the bean into her mouth. It kinda had a fresh taste to it, like green tea. What was really amazing was what happened as soon as she swallowed. It was like she was instantly revitalized! She hopped up and tested her legs.

"Wow, those things really work! I feel like I could climb the tower a dozen times!" she exclaimed.

"You probably could, but that won't be necessary," he said.

"So, does that mean I'm worthy to go up to Kami's Lookout now?" she asked him hopefully.

"Almost, you're supposed to get the sacred water from me first," he told her, gesturing to an ornate, blue bottle, sitting on a stand in the middle of the room.

"You mean your magical tap water?" she asked, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in her tone.

"Oh, so I see Goku's already gone and spilled the beans," Korin huffed.

"Well, to be fair – I don't think he ever expected the Earth to be threatened by super powered aliens," she pointed out with a shrug.

"Yes, I suppose that's only fair," he agreed. "However, if he told you about the water, then he must have explained that the water itself isn't the point," he added.

"Yeah, okay. He _might_ have, but do we really have to go through all the motions? Time isn't exactly on our side right now," she reminded him.

"Be that as it may, everyone else who's up there right now had to get the water from me before I allowed them assess to the Lookout. It wouldn't be right if you didn't take the same tests that they did, or do you want them to think you're getting special treatment?" he asked her seriously.

"No – heaven forbid anyone thought that!" she lamented.

"Then as soon as you get the water, I'll give you a bell, and you can use that pole on your back to get to the Lookout," he said matter-of-factly.

Rinka glanced behind her at her dad's power pole. It was the only thing she didn't leave at Kami's when she'd agreed to go back to the ground. She thought that it might come in handy.

"Great, so when do we start?" she asked.

"Right now, if you'd like. Didn't you say you were in a hurry?" he reminded her.

"Yeah, but – are you sure you're ready?" she wondered, glancing up at the seemingly unguarded bottle. "Don't you wanna like, grab it or something?" He let out a suspicious chuckle.

"You let me worry about that. You just focus on getting that water," he said.

"Alright, if you're sure. . ." Rinka trailed.

It all seemed too easy, which meant that it probably wasn't! She could just lunge for the bottle and hope that she was faster than Korin, but something told her that's exactly what he wanted her to do. Which meant that it would be a bad idea. She wasn't about to fall for such an obvious trick! So, time for a little bait and switch, since he never _actually_ specified on what strategy she could use to get the water.

Moving as quickly and subtly as she could, Rinka pulled out a small, purple orb from out of her pocket. Before Korin could react, she had slammed it against the floor, causing a thick, violet cloud to suddenly envelop the surrounding area. However, this wasn't just any old, regular smoke, as Korin quickly discovered. As soon as he took just one breath, his eyes began stinging and his throat began burning.

He made an attempt to get between the girl and the bottle, trying to sense out where she was in the noxious fumes. But as the burning sensation intensified, he quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to sense her. He wasn't going to be able to concentrate on anything while stumbling around with everything feeling like it was on fire! In that moment, it's like his whole life had devolved down into two words: _fresh air_!

Korin refocused his efforts, and used his energy to whip up a wind and push the horrendous gas out of his tower and into the sky beyond, where it was able to dissipate harmlessly into the atmosphere. He began coughing and gasping in relief at the now toxin-free air. He hurriedly glanced around, only to see that it was already too late.

Rinka sat at the base of the pedestal, bottle in hand. She blew out a long breath that she'd clearly been holding to avoid breathing her own bomb. Then to add insult to injury, she uncorked the bottle and took a swig of the water with a cocky smirk.

"That wasn't very sporting," he choked out, still recovering from the amount of gas he'd inhaled. "Didn't think you'd resort to using such a cheap, dirty trick as a pepper bomb," he wheezed out moodily.

"You never said I couldn't, and why do you automatically call it 'cheap' and 'dirty'? It worked, didn't it?" she reasoned.

"But you missed the point of the training," he pointed out.

"I thought the point was to get the bottle. Why does it matter how I did it, as long as I accomplished the task? Brute force doesn't solve everything, you know. There's more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak," she argued.

"Hmmm, while I don't appreciate your way of putting it, I can't deny your logic. Never let it be said that I'm not a cat of my word," he told her, handing her a little, gold sphere. "Here's your bell. Good luck training up there with the others. Kami and Mr. Po Po are no pushovers, remember that," he warned.

Rinka nodded her understanding. "Thank you, Master Korin. I'm grateful for the opportunity," she told him sincerely, bowing her head slightly in respect.

"Just go," he insisted waving her off.

Rinka scurried up to the very top of the dome that was the roof of Korin's home. Sure enough, there was a hole carved into the stone that appeared to be just the right size to hold the power pole. Rinka quickly unsheathed the pole, slipped it into the opening, and took a tight grip around it.

"Power pole, extend!" she ordered, and began to slowly rise even higher into the stratosphere above.

Slowly climbing by pole was a lot different than riding the Nimbus up. She remembered sailing through these brackish-looking clouds without so much as a sideways glance. But now, she felt nervous sitting in the middle of them. Veins of light were flashing all around her. The thunder it was making almost deafening in her ears. She gripped the pole tighter, hoping this was mostly just for show, a way to intimidate those making the journey to Kami's Lookout. She wasn't real thrilled with the idea of getting struck by lightning.

When the pole reached the Lookout, it seemed to automatically move into the matching hole at the base, and then stop. Rinka glanced up and saw that there was a ladder leading up to the surface. She abandoned the pole and began shimming up the ladder. She'd probably still get lectured if she just tried to fly the rest of the way!

She poked her head up over the edge to find the guys busy sparring with each other. In the distance, she saw Kami watching, and she guessed the dark figure next to him must be Mr. Po Po. Rinka climbed the rest of the way up onto the platform and strolled over to the group like she owned the place. They all stopped and stared when they saw her.

Before anyone had a chance to speak, Rinka chucked the bell straight at Tien with an underhanded toss. He reflexively snatched it out of the air and glanced down at it with surprise.

"So, what did I miss?" she asked cheekily with a big grin.


	6. A Rocky Start

**So, how are things going to go for Rinka? Will she get along fine with the others, or will there be trouble in paradise? You'll just have to read to find out!**

* * *

"No way," Tien said, gawking at the bell in his hand.

"Wow, Rin, that was quick!" Krillin praised, sounding impressed. She cheesed at him.

"So, how long _did_ it take her?" Yamcha wondered.

"It's been about six hours since she first started the climb, by my calculations," Kami announced, shuffling over to greet the newcomer, Mr. Popo right behind him.

Rinka looked up at Kami with a bit of surprise. Had he really been watching her? She supposed she shouldn't put it past the guardian of Earth to always be keeping a watchful eye on Korin tower.

"What?! It can't have been only six hours. That's impossible!" Tien protested.

"Why? We did it faster than that," Yamcha reminded him.

"Yeah, but – she's just a kid," he reasoned.

"And a girl," Chiaotzu muttered scornfully under his breath. It didn't escape Rinka's notice, however, and she flashed a glare at him.

"Yes, but we must not forget who's kid she is," Mr. Popo said, smiling down at her.

"It still took Goku a full three days to climb the tower and get the sacred water on his first try," Tien continued to argue.

"Goku wasn't out to try and prove something," Kami pointed out, smartly.

"Even so, there's just no way she did it that quickly. She _must_ have cheated," Tien decided.

"She did not. I was watching her progress," Kami assured him.

There was a slight pause in the conversation now that Tien had run out of reasons to argue. Rinka saw this as a good time to step in.

"As enjoyable as it is, listening to you all talk about me like I'm not here, don't we have training to do?" she pointed out.

"You are quite right, but first we need to assess your skill level," Kami told her. He motioned her over. "Chiaotzu, would you be willing to help test Rinka?" he asked the little emperor.

"You want me to fight a _girl_?!_"_ he demanded, sounding insulted.

"Great warriors can come in all forms," Kami lectured lightly.

"Oh, fine," he consented, not willing to say no to the great Kami. He stepped forward and faced Rinka with a fighting stance. "Try not to cry when you lose," he told her with a haughty air.

"I'll do my best," she assured him, sarcastically.

"Begin!" Kami announced.

Chiaotzu didn't waste any time. He came at Rinka like a little spring, stuck out both index fingers, and blasted her with two sharp bursts of Ki. It didn't seem like she even _tried_ to dodge the attacks as they connected with full force. Chiaotzu let out a cheer at the successful strike, and was expecting to see Rinka buckle over in pain. However, his pleasure quickly died as he realized something was wrong. The beams, even though it looked like they'd hit, now appeared to be going straight through her. It was as if her body had gone transparent. It took but a moment, until he was able to figure out what was actually going on – The After Image Technique!

He quickly flipped around, frantically trying to figure out where she'd gone, but he was already too late. Rinka was standing right behind him. She lifted her fist up to his face, and he was expecting her knuckles to connect. However, she simply curled her fingers and cuffed him with just one.

What happened next was a bit unexpected, however. The subtleness of the move masked the amount of power that she'd placed behind it, as Chiaotzu suddenly blasted backwards with so much force that he flew past the edge of the Lookout and continued falling into the open air.

The rest of the guys watching could only stare in shock, feeling baffled at what had just happened. Even Tien didn't react for several long seconds.

"Chiaotzu!" he finally shouted, zooming off the Lookout after his little friend. He brought him back up to the platform and gingerly set him down. "Chiaotzu, are you alright?" he asked with concern.

He didn't really seem to be listening though, as he scowled up at the spot where he'd been struck, rubbing at it with a chubby hand. "A flick to the forehead?" he questioned irritability, glaring over at his attacker. Rinka met his gaze with a confident smirk.

"So, would that count as a ring-out?" she asked, turning to Kami. He smiled at her.

"Jeeze kid, this isn't the World Martial Arts Tournament, ya know?" Yamcha scolded.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" Krillin asked, still looking surprised.

"I told you my dad's been training me," she reminded him.

"And teaching you all his techniques?" Yamcha wondered.

"Well, not _all_ of them. He told me I'm not ready for everything, but I have been working on developing some of my own though," she mentioned.

At this point, Tien and Chiaotzu had come back over to re-join the group. Rinka huffed at the little warrior.

"So what now, clown boy? Is that really the best you got?" she mocked.

"You just caught me off guard, cuz I never fought you before! You won't be so lucky next time!" he snapped, glowering at her.

"Right. . ." she trailed skeptically.

"Rinka!" Kami announced sternly, and all eyes turned to him. "There is nothing wrong with having confidence in your abilities. However, you must strive to avoid the danger of becoming over-confident. For over-confidence will inevitability lead to your downfall," he lectured.

"I –" Rinka paused, now feeling a bit sheepish. "Yes, Kami. I understand," she told him with a respectful bow.

Well, maybe she had gone a bit overboard, but it was partly due to Chiaotzu egging her on. Even so, she felt like she had adequately proven her point. Now that these guys knew she was serious, they would hopefully treat her more as an equal than as a little kid, especially a little _girl._ So besides training, she could focus on maybe trying to get to know them all a little better. She was looking forward to the idea of having friends and bonding, but unfortunately, she'd only ever learned one way of doing that through her experience online – and that was hazing. So this is what she attempted to implement throughout the next couple of days. . .

. . .

At one point she brought up the subject of Bulma to Yamcha, giving him a hard time about 'lady-troubles'. That didn't seem to go over very well, as he looked grumpy and told her to mind her own business. He seemed to get over it relatively quickly though, so that was something, she supposed?

Another time while sparring, Krillin got in a particularly powerful shot again Rinka, sending her flying into the nearest tree. He looked worried about her and immediately sprang to her side.

"Ohmygosh! Rin, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard. Are you alright?" he asked.

To try and ease the tension, Rinka thought it would be a good idea to make a joke. "Ugh, did anyone get the license on that dwarf?" she asked teasingly.

However, it was instantly obvious that she had been wrong. As Krillin didn't appear amused at all, and instead seemed offended at her poking fun at him.

"Well, if you're making jokes, I guess that means you're alright," he said testily, getting up and walking away, leaving Rinka feeling confused.

She also quickly realized that any kind of mocking towards Tien was a big mistake, especially in regards to his third eye. Instead of making any kind of comeback, he simply glared at her so hard that she thought he was going to shoot lasers out of his eyes at her. He then turned away without uttering so much as a syllable in response.

Rinka didn't understand, everything she'd learned about guy's behavior from online gaming indicated that this was how they bonded. But instead of retaliating, like she expected, they all just seemed to be avoiding her now. They were doing their best to not give her any kind of opportunity to even talk to them. This wasn't going how she had planned at all!

Later that evening, Rinka was attempting to get some studying done, since she had nothing better to do, when she realized that she was missing one of her studying programs. She must have forgotten to pack it in all the excitement. So, she let Kami know that she was going to make a quick trip home, and would hopefully be back before nightfall.

. . .

She just barely made it back in time, the final rays of the sun slowly ducking down below the horizon as she hopped off the Nimbus, landing right in front of the Lookout mansion. Rinka hurried through the main entrance, turning a corner and heading towards the room that Kami had set aside for them to use as a sleeping area. All of the guys were in there already, and they seemed to be chatting before calling it a night. Rinka was about to shuffle inside, but suddenly stopped short when she heard her name.

"Where did that Rin girl go?" It was Yajirobe's voice.

"She told Kami that she forgot something at home and went back to get it," Krillin explained. "She should be back soon."

"Oh, I had hoped that she had gone for good," he grunted out. "She doesn't belong here."

"What? Why?" Krillin wondered.

"Don't know if you've noticed, but that girl is _mean._ Plus she's seriously gettin' on my nerves," Yajirobe complained.

"She is a bit, harsh – isn't she? You think she gets it from her mom?" Yamcha suggested.

"Wouldn't surprise me. Chi Chi can be pretty scary sometimes," Krillin concurred.

"I hate to say it, especially since she's Goku's kid, but I agreed with Yajirobe. She's only slowing us down, being here. If we are going to have any hope of defeating these Saiyans, then we have to give it our all. This is no place for a little girl," Tien pointed out.

"Plus we're supposed to be working together as a team, but she acts like she's better than us, and doesn't even try to get along. We don't need someone like that around," Chiaotzu added with a haughty air.

"Eh, maybe you're right. It's kinda hard to relax with her around. Besides, whoever heard of a girl fighter, anyway?" Yamcha said casually.

"So – who's gonna tell her?" Yajirobe wondered. There was no response from anyone.

Just outside the room, Rinka had her back against the wall facing away from the door. She had a clenched hand pressed up to her chest as she was listening to their conversation. She had figured that Chiaotzu didn't like her after what she'd done to him, and it was pretty obvious that Yajirobe was annoyed with her presence, but she hadn't realized that they _all_ felt that way! Now she starting feeling really bad about the way she'd been acting. It had apparently been a terrible idea, and she never should have done it, but it seemed all too late to do anything about it now.

Rinka grit her teeth. Well, if that was the case, maybe she should just go home then, and forget this whole thing. If they really didn't want her here, she could make herself scarce. She would just – train on her own, she supposed.

As she was contemplating this, Rinka didn't hear that someone was coming out of the room, and Krillin suddenly appeared in the doorway and spotted her. Both of their faces lit up in surprise, until Rinka's expression quickly changed into a scowl, and she dashed off and out of the building.

"Wait – Rin–!" he called, raising a hand after her, but she didn't stop. Krillin turned to see all the awkward looks, as they all realized that she'd overheard them.

"So, guess we don't have to worry about telling her," Yamcha joked, trying to ease some of the discomfort.

Krillin, on the other hand, didn't think it was funny. "We can't just let her leave like that," he reasoned, and turned to go after her.

"Wait, Krillin. I wouldn't bother her right now if I were you," Yamcha warned.

"Why not?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, I don't have a whole lot of experience with women, but if she's anything like Bulma, she's gonna be impossible to talk to right now. Better give her a little time to calm down first," he suggested.

Krillin didn't really have any experience with women either. It didn't – feel like it was the right thing to do, especially since Rinka wasn't technically a woman, yet. But he figured since Yamcha had at least dated someone that he would know better, so he should probably trust his judgment. He sighed in resignation and rejoined the others, sitting back down on his sleeping mat.

At least an hour had passed, maybe more, before Krillin really started getting anxious. They hadn't heard anything from Rinka at all during that time, and his imagination was starting to betray him. He didn't like the idea of her being out there, all alone, in the middle of the night, probably feeling miserable after what she'd just heard. He was feeling miserable, anyway.

One by one, the others had all started to bed down for the night and go to sleep. Yajirobe passed out basically right after Rinka had left. He obviously wasn't concerned, but Krillin couldn't help but feel responsible for her. This was his best friend's daughter, after all, and he had promised Goku he'd look after her. Krillin didn't want to imagine how he would react if he let anything happen to her.

He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to find her, make sure she was okay. He got up and marched out of the room. Tien was the only other one still awake. He didn't say anything, or try to stop him, just watched him go.

Krillin stepped outside and peered around. The only problem now was, he didn't know where to even _begin_ looking for her. He figured she was skilled enough, that if she didn't want to be found, she'd be hiding her power level.

What he didn't know was that she actually hadn't gone far. . .

. . .

Rinka sat on top of the roof of Kami's palace, her legs swinging loosely over the edge. After she'd run out here, she had seriously considered just booking it home. But, then she remembered that all of her stuff was still inside. She really didn't want to leave without it, so she decided that maybe she could just wait until everyone was asleep, then go collect it before leaving.

She sighed. She hadn't meant to make them all dislike her so much, but it didn't matter now. She'd had one chance to make a good impression, and apparently she'd completely ruined it! Rinka felt like an utter imbecile. She shouldn't have assumed that just because guys acted a certain way online, that meant that's how all guys were! She wished she could do it over again, have a chance to fix this, but again, it seemed like it was already too late.

She stared up into the brilliant night sky. She just couldn't get over how amazing it looked way up here, away from all of the light pollution of the world below. Her mind began to wander to thoughts of her brother. She wondered how his training was going. And if maybe there was a chance that he was staring up at that same magnificent sky, thinking about her too. This was the longest that they'd ever been apart. Feeling sentimental, Rinka began to hum the tune to _Somewhere Out There_.

Krillin was just about to stretch out his mind on the off chance that he might be able to sense her, when he suddenly heard something. It sounded kind of like singing. He turned around and realized that it was coming from the roof of the palace.

He flew up to investigate, and was surprised to find Rinka sitting up there humming and staring at the sky. She was facing away from him, and so didn't notice that he was there. She didn't _seem_ like she was upset, so maybe it would be okay to talk to her? Krillin landed on the roof and tip-toed closer.

"Uh, Rin?" he questioned carefully.

You would have thought he set off a firecracker behind her, the way she suddenly jumped out of her skin and whirled around to face him. She signed and visibly relaxed when she realized who it was.

"Jeeze, Krillin. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" she demanded.

"No! I, uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay," he offered, looking taken aback.

Rinka rolled her eyes and plopped back down, facing away from him again. "Oh, yeah. I'm just peachy," she told him, sarcastically.

When he was sure she wasn't going to attack him, Krillin padded over and joined her, sitting on the edge of the roof, but not too close. There was a long moment of awkward silence.

"So, um, about what you heard, back there. . ." he trailed.

"Don't worry about it," she cut him off before he could continue, shaking her head. "I understand."

"You – do?" he asked, feeling a bit skeptical.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry, for everything. I don't blame you all for wanting me to leave, after the way I've been acting," she explained. Sure, it had hurt her feelings at first, but she'd had a long time to think it over at this point, and she couldn't deny the fact that they were completely justified.

"So then, why–?" he couldn't help but wonder at her motivation. He'd been confused by her behavior ever since she'd first got here, as well. She'd been acting completely different compared to how she was when he'd first met her.

"I guess I'm just – not very good at this," she admitted sheepishly.

"Not good – at what?" he pressed.

"Making friends," she sighed, sadly staring up at the sky.

"What? That was you trying to be friendly? And you thought the best way to do that was to be mean and insult everyone?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, well. I didn't know, okay? Clearly I have been going about this completely wrong! I was only doing what I thought I was supposed to," she rambled. Krillin just looked at her like she was crazy. She wasn't explaining herself very well. She rotated to face him.

"Look, you gotta understand that before now, I've only know four other people in my entire life! My dad, my mom, Gohan, and my grandpa. That's it! All of my other experiences with talking to people have all been online, and that's how guys are online. They're mean to each other and give each other a hard time. I asked someone about it once, and they told me that's just how guys bond. So I thought that's what I should. . ." she trailed when she saw Krillin looking at her with curious expression.

"But I get it now! I know that I was being stupid, and that you shouldn't believe everything you learn on the internet. And that I have no idea what I'm doing! And I've royally screwed up this whole thing, and ruined my chances of ever making a good impression. And now everyone _hates_ me and can't stand the sight of me! Gawd, I'm such an idiot!" she ranted, flopping down on her back and covering her face with her hands in shame.

Krillin wasn't really sure how to react at first to that sudden outburst. He hadn't been expecting her to be so remorseful.

"Hey, common kiddo. Nobody hates you," he tried to tell her.

"Yeah, right. You don't have to try to be nice to me, Krillin. I know I don't deserve it," she muttered.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on yourself?" Krillin offered.

"No!" Rinka barked out through her hands, causing him to flinch.

"Why do you care so much about trying to be friends with _us_, anyway?" he wondered. Rinka moved her hands out of her face and sighed.

"Because you're my dad's friends, and I grew up hearing stories about you. And it's not like I _know_ anyone else, so I had just thought. . ." she trailed off for a moment. "Never mind, it doesn't matter what I thought. It's too late now. I've completely ruined everything!" she moaned. "I should have known something was wrong when no one tried to get back at me," she mumbled to herself.

"Wait, you _expected_ us to try and get back at you?" Krillin clarified.

"Well, yeah. That was the idea. I didn't want everyone to think of me as some little kid. I wanted to prove that I can take it," she explained.

"We're not the kind of guys who go around ganging up on little girls, ya know?" Krillin told her, crossing his arms. "No matter how bratty they act," he smirked.

"Oh. . . Well, when you put it like that. . ." Rinka realized that she should probably be grateful that they _weren't_ actually like that. If she had just demonstrated her confidence and abilities in a polite way, maybe she would have gotten the respect she'd been looking for, instead of the hate.

Another uncomfortable stretch of time passed. Rinka wasn't really sure what else she could say. She sat up and glanced over at Krillin to see that he was staring up at the stars as well. She couldn't help but wonder about him.

"So, um, what brought _you_ out here?" she ventured slowly.

"Looking for you, of course. Goku would, probably never forgive me if I let anything happen to you," he explained.

"Oh, right." Of course that was the reason. It should have been obvious, now that she thought about it.

"What about you? Have you just been – staring up at the sky all this time?" he wondered.

"Yeah. It's just incredible, isn't it? I just wanted to get one last look before – well – I should probably get my things and go. Plus, I'm sure you need to get to sleep if you're going to be expected to train in the morning with the others," and with that, Rinka rose to leave.

She didn't get far, before suddenly feeling a strong hand close around her left wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to see Krillin staring at her with an intense gaze.

"Hang on a second. You're, really leaving?" he asked, sounding almost worried.

"Well, yeah. You guys made it pretty obvious that you don't want me around. So, I'll just – get out of your way," she said, but that didn't seem to ease his concern. "You don't have to worry. I promise I'll head straight home," she assured him.

"That's not it," he said, shaking his head. "I just – I think you should stay," he told her.

"What?! Why? How could you possibly want me to stay after the way I've been treating everyone?" she asked in disbelief. He smiled at her.

"If your dad taught me one thing: It's that everybody deserves a second chance. Plus, I kinda feel like I owe you one, after you were willing to talk to your mom for me about what happened with Goku and Gohan," he explained, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Truth be told though, he actually felt bad for her after everything that had happened. She'd just lost her father, and then her little brother got taken away. And she'd come here, apparently hoping to try and make some friends. . . It wasn't too hard to figure out – she was lonely.

He'd been there. He remembered what that was like – not having any friends, but then he met Goku and the others, and they all became like a sort of family. So, in a way, she was like family too. So how would he ever be able to concentrate on training if she left, knowing that they'd basically kicked her out? Just the idea made him feel guilty.

"Okay, but – what about the others?" she wondered quietly. They probably were still hoping she would leave.

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to them. Besides, it's not like you're going to keep acting like you have been, right?" he reasoned. She nodded. "So then, they should warm up to you, eventually. Just apologize and it'll be fine," he reassured her.

"I guess – if you say so," she said. Although Rinka had her doubts about whether or not that would be enough. She looked down to see Krillin's hand still wrapped around her wrist. He noticed her staring and quickly released her, looking a little embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," he said with a sheepish grin. Rinka hadn't really minded, though. "Well, we better head inside and get some sleep. Like you said, we have a long day of training tomorrow," he reminded her.

"Yeah okay," she consented, following him inside.

Back in the room, it appeared as though everyone was asleep, except for Tien. He seemed to be repositioning to lie down when he saw them come in. He cast a glare at Rinka before turning to Krillin, and raised a quizzical brow.

He looked like he was going to try to explain, but Rinka stopped him before he could. She placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. Then shook her head and put a finger to her lips, indicating that she didn't want to wake anyone up.

Without a word, Rinka gathered up her bags and bedroll. She gave Krillin a small smile before exiting the room. Krillin stared after her, looking apprehensive. He considered trying to stop her, but then thought better of it. It was late, and they were all tired, probably better to just let her go. He just hoped that she would be okay on her own.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think? Does she deserve to get kicked out for how she behaved, or do you think they are being too hard on her? Does she deserve a second chance? Let me know! ;)**


	7. Stories Make the Heart Grow Closer

Rinka had found a secluded corner to spend the night. She felt kind of lonely after sleeping with the guys before, but she knew that if she was ever going to have a hope of making Krillin's plan work, that she needed to take a big step back and really start from scratch. And that meant giving them their space. So, she put her headphones on and tried listening to some music to help her feel better.

The next morning, she woke early and quickly cleaned up her things to get them out of the way for the day. She hadn't been able to sleep very well, anyway, feeling nervous about what the next morning would bring.

She wandered into the dining room and set up her computer at the banquet-style table. Might as well get some studying done while she waited for everyone else to wake up. She hadn't been there long when some movement in the doorway caught her attention. She glanced over to find Krillin watching her. She felt herself relax a bit, glad she didn't have to deal with the others quite yet. He wandered over to stand next to her.

"Whatcha doing?" he wondered.

"Just getting some studying done before we start training for the day. That is – if the others don't kick me out before then," she added under her breath.

"Hey, I told you not to worry about that, didn't I? It's gonna be fine," he reassured her, but she still felt skeptical. She went back to work without commenting. Krillin also refocused on her computer screen.

"So, what is all that?" he asked, indicating the strange text she was typing onto the keyboard.

"Programming language," she stated flatly.

"It's – a language?" he asked, sliding into the bench next to her.

"Yep, that's what they call it. I mean, can you understand anything you see here?" she wondered, pausing in her typing and turning to him.

"Uh, well," he studied it for a moment. "I mean, the words are readable, but I don't understand what any of it means," he concluded.

"Exactly, so it's like a whole other language that computers use to operate and communicate," she explained.

"Wow, so – you really do want to learn computer science," he seemed to realize.

"Yes, I _was_ telling the truth before," she confirmed with a touch of humor to her tone.

It was at that moment that the rest of the guys filed into the room. They must have all woken up around the same time, and were probably looking forward to breakfast. However, they stopped short when they spotted Rinka at the table. They must have thought she'd left when they woke up and saw that her things were gone.

Krillin looked a bit worried for a moment.

"Hey – so guys –" he started, but then stopped short as soon as he saw Rinka rise from her seat.

She climbed over the bench and marched up to them all. This was it, it was now or never. She took a deep sigh and fixed the group with a stern expression, but then her face softened into one of remorse as she began to speak.

"Before anyone says anything, I just wanted to take a second to – apologize," she told them all. Yamcha was the only one who looked surprised and interested. The others all just glared at her. "I'm – really sorry, for the way that I've been acting, and the way I've treated you all. It was really stupid, and undeserving – and I'm just really, really sorry!" she exclaimed, giving them all a deep bow.

"I understand that you all want me to leave, but – I would really like to stay if possible, and I thought you might reconsider if I promised to be on my best behavior from now on," she assured them.

When no one spoke, Rinka chanced a glance up to see how they were reacting. All of their faces remained unchanged. Yamcha was the only one who moved. He kept glancing around at everyone, seeming at a loss for how to respond.

"Well, I'll give you a chance to think it over, I suppose," Rinka said sadly, clinging to a small hope that the silence meant they just weren't sure, versus the alternative. "Whatever you choose, I will accept your decision," she then stood and quietly left the room, not having the nerve to look back at them.

After she was gone, Krillin got up and faced the others.

"Jeeze you guys. Someone could have said something!" he scolded them.

"Well, I didn't know what to say! I've never had a girl apologize to _me_ before. I mean, if she really is sorry, then I guess I don't mind if she stays," Yamcha explained hurriedly.

"Sorry Krillin. I guess I still have doubts about her sincerity," Tien told him.

"She really is sorry, Tien. She explained everything to me last night. That was just her warped way of trying to make friends," he clarified to them all.

"What? Who on earth would think that insulting people is any way to make friends?" Yamcha asked, sounding dumbfounded.

"Yeah, I asked her the same thing." Krillin then went onto explain everything that they'd talked about from the night before. "So, I guess if you were raised in the middle of a forest, completely secluded from all other people, you'd have trouble with your social skills too," he concluded.

"I guess that makes since," Yamcha decided.

"That still doesn't excuse the lack of decent common courtesy. You think Goku would have taught her that much," Tien pointed out.

"She was pretty courteous when she apologized to you all, just now," Krillin defended, but Tien didn't respond.

"Well, I'm with Tien either way," Chiaotzu decided.

Yajirobe just humphed.

"Oh, come on you guys. Would it really be that hard to try giving her a second chance? After all, we weren't exactly saints when Goku first met us, either," he reminded them all.

They all flinched at that and adverted their gazes, each of them flashing back to a unique memory of when they'd first encountered Goku as a kid. No one could argue with that logic.

"Like I said – I don't mind if she stays," Yamcha spoke up first.

Tien sighed. "I suppose you're right, Krillin. If she really claims to be sorry, and she's going to change her attitude, then I guess it would be wrong not to give her a second chance," he finally consented, although he didn't look real pleased about it.

Chiaotzu already said he was going to go along with whatever Tien decided, so Krillin then shifted his gaze to Yajirobe.

"Yajirobe?" he asked expectantly.

"Whatever! I don't care anymore. I'm starving, so let's eat!" he exclaimed, leaving the group to try and find out what was keeping breakfast. Krillin just grinned after him.

"So, you've all decided to forgive the girl, have you?" They all heard as Kami entered the room. "I believe that is a wise choice," he said with a smile. They all looked a bit sheepish at his comments. "Well, now that that's settled. I believe breakfast is just about ready," he added.

"Great! I'll go let Rinka know," Krillin announced, and headed out to find her.

Rinka was sitting out in the entry way, leaning against one of the pillars. She had a somber expression on her face, like she was waiting for a jury to pass judgment.

"Rinka," Krillin called to her. She turned to face him, and he motioned her over.

"You can relax. Everyone's decided that it's okay if you stay," he let her know with an encouraging smile.

"Really?" she asked, smiling back.

"Yes, really. Now let's go, breakfast is ready," he told her, ushering her back inside.

The others, weren't exactly acting friendly when she joined them at the table, but they weren't glaring at her anymore either, at least. Krillin happened to be sitting on the end. So, she slid in next to him, eating her meal as far away from the main group as possible without actually leaving the room.

In fact, after that, training seemed to go in a similar fashion as well. Luckily, they were tasked with doing individual workout exercises that day, so Rinka was able to discreetly keep her distance. That way she felt like she wouldn't be bothering anyone. Krillin seemed to be the only one who took note of this, as he kept casting glances in her direction. She wasn't sure what he could want. She figured if he really needed something, that he'd just come over and ask her.

* * *

Before she knew it, another day on Kami's Lookout had ended. Kami announced that they could call it a night, and so all the guys began to head inside. However, Krillin stopped and turned when he noticed that Rinka wasn't following. She had pulled out her pair of headphones and put them over her ears. She then took a strange kind of stance and began moving with whatever she was listening to. Krillin walked back and stood right in front of her to get her attention.

"Hey! You're going to wear yourself out if you keep going like this. Rest is important too, ya know?" he reminded her. She stopped what she was doing and pulled the headphones down around her neck.

"Yes, I know. I just wanted to do a little of my own version of training before I went to bed," she assured him.

"Really, and what's your version of training?" he wondered with amusement.

"I like to dance while I listen to music as a way to build up endurance, besides just, ya know, punching and kicking," she explained.

"You think that's better than what we do?" he asked.

Rinka shook her head. "No, I just think it's more fun. Beats hand delivering milk everyday wearing turtle shell weights," she told him slyly.

Krillin appeared stymied for a moment at the comment, clearly not expecting that sudden blast from the past!

"Goku told you about that, huh?" he asked. Rinka nodded with a grin. "It wasn't so bad, ya know. It seemed pretty silly at first, but it actually worked really well. Your dad and I got pretty strong in what seemed like no time at all. It made a big difference when we went to our first World Martial Arts Tournament," he told her.

"Really? How so?" she wondered.

"He didn't tell you about the tournament?" Krillin asked in surprise.

"Well, I mean, he told me you went to one. My dad's way of telling stories is kind of like, 'so we went to a place and did a thing.' He was never very good about elaborating on the details," she explained.

"Yeah, that sounds like Goku," he agreed.

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear more of your guy's adventures. I'll bet you're a better story teller than he is," she requested enthusiastically, taking a seat on the cool tile.

"Uh – but –" Krillin looked over at Kami's palace, and then back down at the eager-looking girl. "What exactly did you wanna know?" he wondered, sitting down next to her.

"Everything! Start at the beginning, when you first met my dad," she told him.

Krillin sort of let out a mock scoff at the idea. "Really? You sure you wanna hear a bunch of old stories about me and your dad?" he asked a bit skeptically.

"Yes, please," she nodded exuberantly. "I mean, this is a better way to get to know someone, right? Plus, I think it'll be interesting hearing it from a different perspective, and with more details," she reasoned. He didn't quite look convinced.

"Please?" she asked again more earnestly, scooting closer to him until they were touching. She gazed up at him with big, pleading eyes.

He let out a single chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Alright, if you really wanna know," he consented with a half smile.

"So, dad told me you didn't really get along when you first met," she started him off.

"That's true. In fact, I hated him," he admitted, a little shamefully.

"Really, why?" Rinka wondered.

"Well, I know you'll probably have a hard time believing this, but I used to be kind of a jerk," he confessed. Rinka just gave him a confused look. "Your dad helped change me though. He helped change us all, actually," he paused with a far off look in his eye, thinking back. He snapped back to attention when he remembered that Rinka was still waiting.

"So, I had come to Master Roshi's Island to do some serious training with the famed Turtle Hermit. And here was this weird kid, who just seemed so laid back and clueless. I couldn't believe that Master Roshi had agreed to take someone like him on as a student. Plus it didn't help that right off the bat, your dad was better than me at everything," Krillin lamented.

"Roshi actually didn't want to train me at first, so I had to do some – persuasion – in order to convince him," he explained, sort of.

"Persuasion?" Rinka asked dubiously.

"Uh, yeah. That's not really important though," he brushed it off with a slight blush. "Anyway, the first thing he made us do wasn't even training. He wanted us to prove ourselves worthy to be his students by finding him a pretty girl," Krillin said, shaking his head. "That's actually how we met Launch."

"The girl with the sneezing issue?" Rinka guessed.

"That's right. Boy were we in for a surprise the first time she sneezed," he chuckled. "Anyway, after that Master Roshi finally agreed to start training us. So, he packed up and we moved to a bigger island. That's when he gave us that stupid rock hunting test," he muttered. "Did Goku tell you about that?" he wondered.

"He said you cheated," Rinka affirmed flatly.

Krillin laughed. "Yep, I sure did, and then regretted it almost instantly when Launch poisoned us with her puffer fish dinner!" Rinka giggled at his tone. Guess it really didn't pay to cheat.

Krillin then went on to tell her all about the training regiment that Roshi had them following, and how surprised they were when they first tested their strength without the weighted shells. Then the story lead into them going to their first tournament. He seemed to pause a bit when he started telling her about the preliminaries. Rinka could sense his hesitation.

"So, in my very first preliminary match, it was against a guy who I trained with at my old martial arts school. I used to be a monk at Orin Temple," he explained.

_So, that explains his choice in hairstyle, and the forehead dots,_ Rinka realized.

"But I was sorta – bullied – by the other guys there," he admitted, looking embarrassed.

"Really? Why?" Rinka wondered.

"Well, you seem to have already noticed that I'm – a little on the shorter side," he reminded her, his tone sounding a bit cold.

"Oh, yeah. I'm really sorry about that," she said, looking shamefaced.

"It's okay, Rin. I've already forgiven you," he assured her with a smile.

"So, when did you first start training at Orin Temple?" she ventured.

"Oh, I think I was about four," he told her casually.

"Four?! You were only four years old!" she exclaimed. "What – about your parents?"

"Well, that's the thing. I never knew my parents," he confessed to her.

Rinka looked a bit shocked at him at first, but then her expression softened into a sympathetic gaze. She thought about how hard that must have been for him, growing up without a family!

"Oh, Krillin. I'm so sorry," she apologized again, not really knowing what else to say.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. After all, you can't miss someone you never knew, right?" he reasoned. "Anyway, I was pretty nervous going up against him, at first. Turns out I didn't need to be," he grinned at the memory.

"Why not?" Rinka encouraged.

"I ended up being way stronger than him. The fight only lasted like, a second, before I kicked him so hard that he went straight through the opposite wall," he chuckled. Rinka resumed smiling at him.

"Bet that was satisfying," she commented.

"Kid, you have no idea," he said, but then thought about it a little more. He glanced back down at her, and she cocked her head at him. "Actually, maybe you do," he realized.

"Then you made it to the finals, right?" she remembered from her father's version.

"Yep. Me, your dad, and Yamcha all made it," he confirmed. "I ended up in the first match, fighting against this hulking ogre named Bacterian. Now this guy wasn't just huge, but he was disgusting! He'd apparently never taken a bath in his entire life, and said that his horrible smell was one of his weapons."

"You're kidding," Rinka said, making a face.

"Nope, and it was really effective too! I couldn't stand it at first. Man, I thought for sure I was gonna pass out!" he lamented.

"So, what did you do?" Rinka wondered.

"Well, it actually wasn't so much what I did, but what Goku did," he confessed. Rinka stared at him expectantly. "He reminded me that I don't have a nose, so Bacterian's smell shouldn't affect me."

"And – that worked?" she asked, albeit a bit dubiously.

"Yeah, surprisingly it did." Krillin went on to explain all the details of the fight, up until the point where he admitted to using Bacterian's tactics against him – by letting out a gas attack of his own right in the hulking, monster's face!

As soon as she heard that, Rinka broke into a fit of giggles at the idea. It was very juvenile humor, but she couldn't help it. Krillin smiled at her reaction.

"You like that, huh?" he questioned.

"I can't – believe that worked. That's – hilarious!" she confirmed through her chuckles.

"Well, too bad the next round wasn't quite as comical," he told her in a more serious tone. Rinka stopped laughing and studied him. "I lost in the semi-finals," he explained.

"Oh yeah, dad had said you guys didn't get to fight in your first tournament," she realized.

"Yep, lost to Jackie Chun. He was the current champion at the time. We both did actually, Goku in the final match. That was a real shame too, because he had been so close to winning. Even after. . ." Krillin trailed off at this point.

"After what?" Rinka asked when it seemed as if Krillin wasn't going to continue.

"Uh – never mind. Forget I said anything," he sputtered out hastily, in an attempted to cover up his comment.

Rinka frowned at him. Why did it suddenly seem like he was trying to hide something from her? She thought hard on what her father had told her about that first tournament. He said that something unusual had happened, hadn't he? That he'd blacked out part way through the fight – and then didn't he say something about waking up _naked_, of all things? Throughout all these ponderings, it didn't take long for her to eventually put two and two together.

"Wait a second. Dad said something about passing out mid-way through the fight, and then waking up to find that the arena looked like a monster had attacked it." She peered back up at Krillin with a knowing gaze. "He looked at the full moon and transformed during that fight, didn't he?" she realized.

Krillin just stared down at her with a shocked expression. "How – how do you know about that?" he asked in surprise.

Rinka shrugged. "I asked Raditz about it, since you guys had been making such a big deal about our tails," she confessed, waving it around behind her. "He told me."

Krillin began glancing around at the night sky, just now realizing the possible repercussions.

"Don't worry, there isn't a full moon tonight. I already checked," she assured him. "I've been trying to keep track of that since I found out."

"Well, that's good to know, but – wait – you mean you actually _talked_ to that Raditz guy?" Krillin wondered.

"Yeah, I mean, not very much – but a little. . ." she trailed. He fixed her with a skeptical eye. "There really wasn't much else to do while waiting for my dad," she explained further.

"Uh, huh. So, what did he tell you?" he wondered.

"Just that a Saiyan's tail gives them the power to turn into giant apes when they look at the full moon, and it makes them stronger," she said.

Krillin hummed and stared up into the sky, as if pondering the implications. The silence stretched on for several moments.

"So," Rinka finally said, getting his attention again. "What happened after the tournament?" she asked.

"Well, after the tournament I went back to train some more with Master Roshi. That is until Goku showed back up again to get my help tracking down the Dragon Balls. That was when we got tangled up with the Red Ribbon Army."

Krillin then explained about his confrontations with General Blue, and their near brushes with death. Also about how they eventually were going to help Goku finish off the army for good, but then admitted that they didn't really get to do much, as her father had already single handedly destroyed their whole headquarters by the time they arrived.

"So, he really did defeat an entire army all by himself?" Rinka asked with wonder. "I had always thought he was exaggerating," she added under her breath.

"Nope, it's no exaggeration. We were just as surprised when we first got there and saw the whole place in ruins! We had always known that Goku was strong, but man! That was something else," he mused.

"But, why was he trying to collect the Dragon Balls again?" she inquired.

"Well, during all that business with the Red Ribbon Army, an assassin they had hired ended up killing Upa's father. Did Goku ever tell you about them?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. I also got to meet them when you all sent me back down to the base, you know, to climb the tower the 'right way'," she reminded him, with exaggerated air quotes.

"But, I didn't –" he attempted to protest, but Rinka stopped him.

"I'm just joking!" she assured him. "I'm sure Tien was right, and that it was a good experience for me, and all that," she admitted wearily with a grin. He smiled back at her. "Anyway, so I'm guessing that you guys were successful, since Bora is clearly alive and well?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. We were able to collect all of them but one. We didn't know why at the time, but Bulma's dragon radar wasn't able to detect the seventh dragon ball. So, Master Roshi suggested that we talk to his sister, Baba," he explained.

"That's, that witch lady, right?" Rinka guessed.

"Yeah, although she prefers to go by the term 'Fortuneteller'," he corrected.

"Then, why does she dress like a witch?" Rinka wondered. Krillin just shrugged.

"Anyway, we found out when we got there that she wasn't about to just give us the location of the last ball for free, but there was no way we could ever afford her ridiculous fee! So, she offered us an alternative – we could fight in her tournament, and if we won, then she'd tell us where it was."

"Dad did mention something about her fighters being a bit – weird. . ." she trailed.

"Boy, you can say that again! The first guy I fought was a vampire named Fangs," he told her.

"Wait, so he was an _actual_ vampire?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep. Shocked me at first too. He managed to latch onto my head and practically drained me dry! Did not see that one coming," he mused. Rinka just stared at him with a look of horror at the implications. "D-don't worry! I was alright! They bandaged me up after I passed out, and then Upa and Puar took over after that and managed to beat him," he assured her.

"Seriously? Yamcha's kitty friend? And wasn't Upa just a little kid at the time?" Rinka wondered in surprise.

"Yeah, but since they knew he was a vampire, it was easy for them to use things like garlic and crosses to beat him. I just wish _I_ could have done more fighting," he lamented. "Although, I did help Yamcha when he went up against an invisible guy."

"So, the fighter was literally invisible?" Rinka wondered, cocking her head. Krillin nodded.

"Yamcha was having a heck of a time with him, until I came up with an idea to make him, not so invisible. See, I told Bulma that I needed her help and had her stand just outside the ring, like this," Krillin then began making tracing motions on his open palm, giving Rinka a mental image of the position of the ring in relation to where they had been. They both leaned over his hand as he continued.

"And then I put Master Roshi, right in front of her, facing towards the ring, and –" he stopped suddenly and glanced up at the girl. She looked up as well, meeting his gaze, wondering why he'd paused. He blinked at her for a moment.

"And, now I'm realizing that this is actually very inappropriate, and I shouldn't be telling you this," he decided, sitting back up and crossing his arms.

"Oh, come on! You've come this far!" she protested, but he seemed unmoved. "What? Did you use Bulma to flash Master Roshi, or something?" she guessed. Krillin looked shocked and turned back to her.

"How did you. . .?" he trailed.

"Deductive reasoning," she told him flatly. Krillin eyed her skeptically.

"What are you, Sherlock Holmes?" he asked with a pout.

"No, but mom made us read some of his books. Plus I've probably spent more time on the internet than I should have," she confessed.

"Yeah, okay, fine. I yanked down Bulma's shirt at the right time, and Master Roshi's nose fountained blood all over the invisible guy," he admitted in a mutter.

Rinka immediately burst out laughing, and Krillin couldn't help but smirk at her. "Glad you find it so funny."

"Bet Bulma wasn't real happy with you after that!" she said through her chuckles.

"No, she'd tried beating me up."

"But it worked though, right? Although, wouldn't it have been a lot _cooler_ if Yamcha had done something like, cut his hand and fling his own blood at the guy?" Rinka offered, mimicking the motions. Krillin thought about that for a moment.

"Sure, I guess that would have been 'cooler', but not nearly as funny," he reasoned.

"True," Rinka had to agree.

Krillin then went on to talk about the other fighters. How Yamcha lost to a mummy man that her father was then able to beat, before he fought against a demon guy. This guy apparently had a deadly technique that would amplifying a person's 'inner evil' to a fatal level, but it didn't work on her dad since he was, apparently, completely pure of heart. Rinka had to fight the urge to scoff at this, and instead just allowed Krillin to continue without comment.

The real kicker was the identity of the final fighter of the tournament. Turns out, it was grandpa Gohan in disguise, her little brother's namesake. Rinka, of course, had heard about this part of the story, but what she didn't realize was how he was even there in the first place. Krillin explained that one of Baba's powers was the ability to bring someone back from Other World, but only for one day.

"Wow, that's so cool. I wish I could have met grandpa Gohan," she mused.

"Yeah, he was a pretty cool guy. When Upa felt bad about wanting to use the wish for his dad, instead of on Gohan, he told him he was happy with his afterlife and wanted to stay that way," he said. Rinka nodded.

"So, then you guys won the tournament, right?" she urged.

"Well, technically yes, because Gohan forfeited the match. Either way, Baba finally told us where the final Dragon Ball was. Turns out, Pilaf had been hoarding it the whole time in a radar-proof box. That's why the radar wasn't able to find it," he told her.

"That's the little, blue imp guy?" Rinka clarified. "What was his deal, anyway?" she asked.

"Same as all the others. Wanted to rule the world, or whatever. Only, he wasn't very _good_ at being _bad_," Krillin joked.

"I kinda got that impression from my dad, so, I'm guessing that means he didn't have any trouble getting the last ball?"

"Nope, no trouble at all, apparently. Once he had it, they were finally able to wish Upa's father back to life," he concluded.

"It's nice to know that it all worked out," she decided. "So, what next?" she pressed with a grin. Krillin sighed.

"Boy, you sure are insistent! You really want me to keep going? You sure you're not getting bored?" he asked, wanting to clarify.

"Ya! You haven't even talked about Tien and Chiaotzu yet!" she pointed out.

"I suppose that is what comes next," he realized. "Your dad went out to train on his own in the world, while Yamcha and I stayed and trained with Master Roshi. I didn't see Goku again – for several years after that, actually. It wasn't until we all got together for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. That's where we met Tien and Chiaotzu. At the time, they were students of a rival master of the – I think it was the, Crane school?" He scrunched up his face in thought.

"Oh yeah! Dad mentioned they were all huge jerks at first!" Rinka added.

"Kinda seems to be a trend, doesn't it?" Rinka nodded in agreement. "So, we all made it to the finals pretty easily that year. Things didn't start to heat up until they were selecting our numbers. Tien and Chiaotzu kept trying to pick fights with us during all this, until they finally forced it for the tournament," he said, sort of cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Rinka wondered.

"Well, later they confessed that Tien had Chiaotzu mess with the lots, so that they could fight us first. Tien wanted to get back at Yamcha, and I guess Chiaotzu decided he wanted to face off against me, cuz I looked like an easy target," Krillin explained.

"Well, that seems, eerily familiar," Rinka mumbled. "I hope you proved him wrong," she added. Krillin smiled at her.

"You better believe I did!" Krillin told her with a smirk, causing Rinka to grin up at him in turn. But then his expression soured a bit. "It's too bad Yamcha wasn't so lucky. . ." he trailed.

"Dad had said something about Tien hurting him pretty bad," Rinka remembered.

"That's putting it lightly." Krillin paused, glaring at the ground for a long moment.

Rinka glanced back and forth between him and the hall resting just a few feet away where the parties in question were currently residing. It was kind of amazing that they all managed to be such good friends now, when she thought about it. It seemed like Tien had really put them through a lot of pain!

"Krillin – I. . . I didn't mean to –" but he cut her off before she could finish.

"It's okay. I mean, it's all in the past now," he pointed out, and smiled at her. "Boy, we all really have changed a lot compared to those days, and it's all thanks to your dad," he admitted. Rinka smiled at the ground for a moment before going back to the current topic.

"So, how did your fight with Chiaotzu go?"

"He was surprisingly strong at first. I didn't know how to fly or really use energy attacks at the time. It didn't help that the Crane master found out that Goku had killed his brother during this time, and so ordered Chiaotzu to try and kill me!" Rinka's eyes went wide at this new bit of information. "He kept firing Dodon Rays at me from the air, so I figured my only hope was to try and fire back," he paused, giving her a knowing smile.

"I basically taught myself how to use the Kamehameha right in the middle of that fight!" he told her.

"Wow, Krillin! That's – that's incredible!" she praised with a big grin.

"I – I mean – you really think so?" he wondered, suddenly looking sheepish.

"Well, yeah! To be able to figure out how to use a new technique during an intense fight like that? That's amazing!" she cheered.

"But – not really though. My Kamehameha wasn't super strong back then, since I'd just figured it out. It wasn't enough to win the fight," he admitted.

"So? It still takes a lot of energy and concentration to pull it off at all, right?" she reasoned. However, instead of agreeing, Krillin stopped and studied her for a moment.

"Wait a second! Do – do _you_ know how to do it?" he suddenly asked with surprise. Now it was Rinka's turn to look sheepish.

"I. . ." she trailed for a second. "Kinda. . ." she eventually confessed.

Krillin just stared at her in shock. "How?" he finally managed to ask.

"Dad, tried teaching me?" she explained with an unsure tone. "It, didn't really work at first. All that came out was like this '_poof_'. I've been practicing though."

"Just how old are you, again?" he demanded. Rinka realized that he probably wasn't actually looking for an answer, just trying to make a point.

"It's not that big a' deal. Gohan can use energy attacks too!" she told him. "He just – doesn't remember using them afterwards," she added. Krillin just shook his head.

"You're the incredible one, Rin," he said after a pause. Rinka blushed and kept her gaze fixed on her lap.

"Thanks," she replied. "Still not enough to protect my family though," she muttered.

Krillin felt as though he should say something, but he wasn't sure what. It was true, after all. None of them had been strong enough, hence the training.

"So? How did you beat Chiaotzu?" she wondered.

"With math," he told her with a grin.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"I had been watching him throughout our fight. Chiaotzu had been using a lot of telekinesis, including using it to paralyze me, but he had to use his hands in order to keep it up. So, I thought of a way to get him to use his hands for something else. I asked him what three plus four was," he explained.

"And, he couldn't add it in his head?" she asked skeptically.

"Apparently not. He had to use his fingers to count, which meant that he stopped holding me down, so I could attack, and I was able to beat him with a ring-out."

"But, why did he feel like he had to answer in the first place?" she wondered. Krillin shrugged.

"Trying to prove that he was smarter than me?" he guessed. Rinka shifted her gaze back and forth.

"Didn't that just end up proving the opposite?" she reasoned, and he grinned at her.

Krillin then continued on to talk about the other matches until it was finally his turn to face off against Goku! He decided to go into detail about all the different techniques and strategies that they attempted to use to best each other. He confessed at one point that he knew there was no way he was going to beat Goku in a straight up fight, and so tried using every dirty trick in the book to attempted to gain the advantage. Including grabbing his tail.

"Dad still had his tail at that point?" Rinka asked, interrupting the story.

"Yeah, even though it'd been cut off several times, it kept on growing back," Krillin explained. "Although, what I didn't know is that he'd been training it up, so that grabbing it didn't affect him like it used to. Without that advantage, he eventually overpowered me and won," he finished with a sigh.

"I guess it makes more sense now why he was always so freakishly strong, being an alien and all," he glanced at Rinka. "It actually helps explain a lot of things," he determined. "Seems like there's no way any of us could ever hope to beat him now!"

"But – didn't Tien win that tournament?" Rinka reminded him.

"Barely," Krillin emphasized. "By like, a second! Since Tien decided to destroy the arena, it all kinda came down to luck at the end. Goku just happened to hit the ground first," he explained.

"He was probably pretty disappointed, huh?" she guessed. Krillin shrugged.

"You know your dad. He's a pretty good sport about everything. What was really surprising was Tien's change of heart throughout all of that. Between Roshi's lectures and fighting Goku, he and Chiaotzu decided to turn over a new leaf. Even offered to split the prize money."

"Really?" Rinka asked.

"Yeah. Seemed like everything was finally settled. Until. . ." Krillin trailed off. His visage had taken on a very serious tone, and he had his gaze fixed on the ground in a glare.

"Until. . .?" she questioned.

"Well, I can't really tell you much more about what happened after that," he offered mysteriously.

Rinka didn't understand at first. Why did he suddenly seem so upset? If she remembered correctly about what her father had said, hadn't Tien treated them all to dinner afterwards? But then, something else he'd said rang a bell in her mind. He'd mentioned something about leaving his things behind. . .

That's when it suddenly hit her! She remembered what her father had said! Right after the 22nd World Tournament, Krillin had – Krillin had – _died_!

Rinka let out an involuntary gasp and clamped a hand over her mouth!

"Krillin I – I forgot about – I'm so sorry! You – you don't have to tell me anymore," she rushed to assure him, then just stared shamefaced down at the ground as well. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say at that point.

"Hey. Don't worry about it, kiddo! You just gotta remember, this story _does_ have a happy ending," he pointed out. Rinka nodded that she understood, but didn't say anything more for a long while.

Krillin cocked his head to get a better look at her before finally speaking. "You really wanna be done?" he asked.

Out of respect for him and his feelings, Rinka was fine with being done. However, Krillin hadn't made a move to leave, or change the subject. So maybe. . . Rinka realized that she did have a question.

"Did it – I mean – were you – scared?" she asked, quietly and carefully. He seemed to ponder this for a moment before answering.

"Honestly? It had happened so fast that I never had the chance to really feel anything," he confessed. "It was just like, one minute I was confronting that horrible monster, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the beach at Kame House. The others filled me in later, letting me know that Goku fought against and defeated the evil King Piccolo, so that he could resurrect everyone he'd killed."

Rinka finally looked back up at him after that.

"This part always kind of confused me," she confessed. "So, is the Piccolo we know now, not the same Piccolo that my dad originally fought? But, he's like, basically the same, or something? Dad was never able to explain it all that well."

"Well, from what I understand, the Piccolo that we know now is technically the reincarnation of the first King Piccolo. They said that he's like a son, but apparently also inherited all of his father's powers and memories," Krillin tried to explain.

"But, just because you have someone's memories, that doesn't automatically make you the exact same person, does it?" she asked, trying to find hope that the green man who currently had her brother was not actually the same horrible monster that her father had described.

"I'm – not really sure, Rin. I think that's a question only Piccolo himself can answer," he told her. Rinka wasn't super satisfied with that response, but she supposed that it was the best she was going to get for the moment.

"And then, you guys didn't see each other again until dad fought Piccolo in the next tournament. Is that right?" Rinka asked.

Krillin nodded. "That's right," he confirmed.

"I know a little bit more about this part, because mom was there too. Is it true that dad promised to marry mom when they were kids, only because he thought a bride, or wife, or marriage, or something – was some kind of food?" she questioned incredulously.

"Yeah, we were all surprised when we found that out! I tried to warn him not to go through with it, but he wouldn't listen," Krillin said, shaking his head. Rinka just fixed him with dubious look before responding.

"So, while I _can_ see where you're coming from – I, for one, am glad they decided to 'go through with it'," she stated flatly.

"Oh, right. I, uh, guess you wouldn't exist otherwise," he realized.

"Uh, yeah!" she snapped back. "It does make me wonder why either of them felt like they had to hold him to that promise, when he clearly didn't understand what he was agreeing to. But, I suppose I should be grateful things worked out the way they did. Especially with how crazy that last tournament sounds whenever my parents talk about it!"

"Oh, man! It was intense! There was so much going on during that thing. Besides Chi Chi showing up to fight Goku, Mercenary Tao had somehow not died after his last encounter with Goku, and was back for revenge. He beat poor Chiaotzu pretty badly in the first elimination round, but Tien was able to take care of him no problem in the next round. I actually took on Piccolo first before he got to Goku," Krillin was saying.

"Really? How did that go?" Rinka asked in surprise.

"Eh, better than you'd think, actually. I was able to hold him off for a little while until he eventually got the upper hand. I was hurt pretty bad, and since I knew I couldn't win, I decided to just throw in the towel. But, even though I lost, I was pretty proud of the way I fought," he admitted. Rinka smiled at him.

"Things really started to come to a head when we all discovered that Kami had joined the fight in disguise," he started.

Krillin went on to talk about Yamcha's humiliating match against Kami. Then how Goku and Tien fought again, and while it looked like Tien had the upper hand, that all changed as soon as Goku took off the weighted clothing he'd been wearing. This lead into the next match where Kami attempted to take care of Piccolo himself, which was the whole reason why he'd joined the tournament in the first place, using the Evil Containment Wave. However, Piccolo had been able to reverse it on him, trapping Kami in the bottle instead.

"And then, he swallowed it!"

"He what?!" Rinka demanded. "Piccolo _ate_ Kami?!" she asked again with horror.

"Yeah – your dad didn't tell you that?"

"No, he failed to mention that little detail," Rinka admitted. "Jeeze! Things were more nuts than even he remembers, apparently! Now we're getting into some serious _Orochimaru_ levels of weirdness," she mumbled.

"Some serious _what_?" Krillin asked, but Rinka just shook her head.

"Never mind," she told him.

"Anyway, lucky for us that during the fight, Piccolo decided to use one of his weird powers to grow super huge. It made it so that Goku was able to actually go inside of him and get the bottle, and Kami, back. Too bad he didn't stay that way when he realized it wasn't working. It made him an easier target," Krillin lamented.

"Either way, dad still beat him though," Rinka already knew that much.

"Yeah, but it was a really close call. I mean, why do you think we were all so nervous around Piccolo before?" he pointed out. "We all thought you were crazy! Trying to volunteer to go with him!"

"I suppose I see your point, but, the only thing I actually know about him from my own experience is that he tried helping my father against Raditz, and wants to help defend the Earth from the Saiyans," she reasoned.

"Only so he can conquer it himself later!" Krillin reminded her.

"I guess. . ." she trailed. "Even so, it sounds like you guys had some really crazy adventures together! Kinda wish I could've been there too," she lamented under her breath. Although, Krillin heard what she said, despite her whispering.

"Well, I mean, you didn't exactly exist back then," he tried to argue.

"Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense!" she huffed.

"But, hey! Look where we're at now?" he gestured around them. "Seems like you're already off to a pretty good start," he told her, only half joking.

"This is a _good_ start?" Rinka wondered doubtfully. Krillin just shrugged.

"Most of our adventures started out with a crisis," he said with a grin.

"Seems to be a trend," she added in jest, returning his smile.

A second later, a sudden shout interrupted their conversation. They both glanced over to see Yamcha wandering out of the pavilion.

"Hey! What are you guys doing out here? You planning on ever turning in?" he asked, sounding a bit miffed, although Rinka couldn't understand why. She rose to meet him, stretching her now stiff legs.

"We were just talking," Rinka told him in a subdued tone.

"For this long?! About what?" he wondered.

Rinka turned back to Krillin, but he just motioned for her to continue.

"I just – had some questions about some things, is all," she offered, not admitting to anything. She decided that Krillin could elaborate if he really wanted to. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Krillin," she told him sincerely. "I hope you both have a good night." And with that, she hurried back inside before he could ask anything else.

"Sure, no problem, kiddo," Krillin called after her, rising up from the floor himself to head inside.

This just left Yamcha scratching his head in confusion. "What was that about?" But Krillin just smiled as they joined the other guys inside.

* * *

**So, I realize this chapter ended up going really long, but I just didn't see a good place to split it. And I figured, longer chapters means more content, right? I didn't actually intend for it to be this lengthy, but I was really enjoying putting all the recap stuff together. So, hopefully some one out there finds it, at least partially interesting. I'm also hoping to get the next part of the actual story up soon! Feel free to let me know what you think!**


	8. Pendulum Room Peril!

More time passed as the training continued. Although the others were no longer actively avoiding her, or giving her death glares, Rinka felt like she was making little headway relationally. Whenever they were tasked with sparring, she would end up getting paired with either Krillin, because he was willing, or Chiaotzu – albeit reluctantly – because they were similarly matched size and power-wise. Other than her occasional conversations with Krillin, socializing was kept to a minimum.

On this particular morning, breakfast had been more-or-less just a quick snack, as everyone was eager to get to morning warm-ups. The only one not focusing on their individual exercises was Yajirobe, who was currently occupied with stuffing his face. No surprise there.

The reason for the hasty meal was that they had been informed the day prior that Kami had some kind of special activity planned for them today. Something that was supposed to really provide a major boost to their training. Several minutes after they'd begun, Kami and Mr. Popo joined them in the Lookout's courtyard, almost like clockwork.

"Kami will see all of you now," Mr. Popo informed them, and they began to gather around the two guardian beings.

"Hey, Kami. I don't mean to be rude, but we're not really learning anything new," Krillin complained. He'd been skeptical about this new 'supposed training', not seeing how they could do anything different than what they'd already been attempting.

Kami's eyes flashed dangerously. Maybe it would have been better for him to have waited to see what they had in store, before voicing his skepticism. After all, it hadn't been very long since Rinka had been, _enlightened_ on the merits of keeping one's mouth shut. Although, Yamcha was also quick to agree.

"He's right," he voiced, hopping down from his one finger balancing act and moving towards the group. "So far you haven't taught us anything we couldn't do on our own!" he protested. "We wanna be as strong as Goku was when he was here!"

Rinka blinked back and forth between them all. Oh yeah! That was right. Her father had trained up here with Kami after defeating King Piccolo. She couldn't really speak for the others, but she'd been learning a lot since she'd been there. However, she supposed that was to be expected, this being her first time doing _actual_ serious training.

"Yeah, come on! We want the same training you gave Goku, Kami!" Krillin added, now sounding even more heated.

"Please, listen carefully then," he finally growled back. "I taught – Goku," he paused for dramatic effect. "Nothing!" he then shouted at all of them. "That's what I taught him!"

Everyone started, before falling down in a comedic fashion, and then he just laughed and walked away.

"Hey! What did he mean by that?!" Yamcha snapped.

"Who knows? If this camp wasn't free, I'd be outta here!" Yajirobe grumbled. "Just between you and me, the food's not that great," he added under his breath.

"But, Kami, sir! Didn't you say–" Rinka attempted to dart after him, but a sharp look from both he and Mr. Popo halted her in her tracks.

"Mr. Popo, we all know Goku received training here before. Why can't you tell us what it was?! You claimed we'd be doing something different today! So, let's get to it!" Yamcha demanded, but the genie man remained unmoved.

"Come on! We're just trying to get stronger! That's all," Krillin attempted to reason.

Mr. Popo closed his eyes with a sigh. He seemed to be pondering something for a moment.

"To be truly strong, you must know yourself and your enemy," he told them cryptically. "Once you know this, all will become clear."

Silence.

Rinka turned to look at the guy's dumbfounded expressions.

"What do you mean?" Krillin finally asked.

Without thinking, Rinka barked out a laugh at the reaction, but then immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. All eyes then suddenly snapped to her, Popo's with a glare. Oops.

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly, rocking back and forth on her heels. Krillin spared her a smile, at least.

"Don't give us that rubbish!" Yamcha barked at the fortune cookie answer. "How can we not know ourselves?! I know myself better than anybody!" he argued.

"Oh? Is that a fact?" Mr. Popo asked with a hint of satire. "So, you know yourself, do you? How come you don't know that you are weak?"

Rinka cocked her head at him. But, they did know that, didn't they? Wasn't that the whole reason they were there? Because they weren't strong enough to fight the Saiyans?

"Oh?! Would you like to prove that?! You beach ball!" he challenged back, getting right into Popo's face. Well, maybe he didn't know after all?

Mr. Popo just stuck a finger to his nose, easily pushing him back with a scolding hum. Yamcha appeared somewhat surprised at the gesture.

"All of you follow me," he instructed, and lead the way back into the palace.

A moment later, they all found themselves standing in a very odd-looking room. A giant pendulum swung from a massive fixture in the ceiling, and the floor glowed with a strange, magical-looking pattern. And it was dark, very dark. Rinka was getting a very uneasy vibe from it, making her skin crawl.

"Wow. . ." Krillin trailed in awe.

"Whoa, check it out!" Yamcha added.

"What is this place?" Tien wondered.

"Here – past, present, and future are mixed," Mr. Popo explained, sort of.

"Amazing," Chiaotzu decided.

"More creepy if you ask me," Rinka mumbled.

"This is where you'll start your time trip. When Goku was with us, most of his training took place in this room," Popo continued.

"Uh, Goku?" Yamcha asked nervously.

"He trained by traveling through time?" Rinka wondered.

"That's right," he confirmed. "We weren't sure about bringing you here yet, but since you all insisted so strongly – I hope you're ready," he warned.

"I think we are. Let's do it!" Tien declared, sounding uncharacteristically excited at the prospects.

"Yeah!" Yamcha agreed, both he and Krillin putting on a determined face. Yajirobe – not so much.

"Hey guys, have fun!" he mockingly encouraged. "I'm a lot of different things, but I ain't no guinea pig," he told them, retreating to the edge of the room to partake in another snack.

"Hey, what's life without a little, experimentation?" Rinka joked. He did not find this amusing.

"Those of you who wish to go, step inside the circle, please," Mr. Popo requested. They all did as instructed. "Before you go, I can only recommend that you see with your heart. Now, close your eyes, please," he continued.

Rinka didn't like this, and she could feel herself getting increasingly more nervous. Although she wasn't about to wimp out now, she decided that _maybe_ it wouldn't hurt to look for a little, moral support? She reached up and clamped onto Krillin's hand before squeezing her eyes shut. Krillin smiled down at her before returning the squeeze and shutting his own eyes.

"The next time you open your eyes, you will be in a far off place, exactly 100 years ago. I wish you luck, young warriors," Popo finished.

Rinka could suddenly feel an weird, tingling sensation pulsing through her body. She tightened her grip on Krillin's hand, subconsciously scooting closer to him. She could offer up no feasible explanation on how any of this was possible, but at least she knew she wasn't alone in the endeavor.

She waited until the rippling feeling ebbed away before chancing a glance around. Mr. Popo hadn't been kidding about the change in scenery. Everything around them looked completely alien!

"Where are we?" Chiaotzu wondered, his nervousness clear.

"Uh, Mr. Popo said, a 'far off place', remember?" Rinka pointed out.

"Well, wherever we are, it's obvious that there's been some serious fighting going on around here," Yamcha observed.

"This place is demolished!" Krillin exclaimed.

They weren't kidding. Nothing was recognizable as any kind of solid structures. It all just looked like piles of rubble, the remnants of what could have been a city of sorts.

"Sounds like all of the fun is over though," Tien commented about any lack of noise.

"Ya think maybe he messed up on the timing?" Rinka asked.

"Shhh! Listen!" he suddenly shushed her.

But, to what? Rinka couldn't hear anything! Until, there was suddenly a small crash. They all let out nervous yelps and turned to find a skeleton had slid down a nearby ravine. It was adorned with what looked to be the same kind of armor that Raditz had worn.

"Look! It's a Saiyan!" Yamcha exclaimed.

"Not anymore," Krillin pointed out darkly.

"I played a video game that started out like this once," Rinka muttered anxiously.

"What? Was it a horror game?!" Yamcha asked, the tension in his tone clear.

Rinka nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it." She swallowed hard.

"Listen!" Tien snapped again. "I think I hear something. There!" he announced after a moment, gesturing towards a shadow in the distance.

"Th – that could have been anything," Yamcha argued shakily.

"Yeah, but it was definitely something!" Krillin's tone sounded at the edge of panic.

Listening to the grownups whine was not helping Rinka's own mental state! She did her best to try and shake it off. They couldn't just stand there all day! They should at least try to figure out what it was they were supposed to be doing here!

"We should try and find out," she decided, slinking towards where the noise had come from.

"Are you crazy?!" Krillin exclaimed, grabbing hold of her and yanking her back.

"Hey! What? Am I the only man here?!" she demanded, looking sour.

"Come on! That isn't fair! You're scared too!" Krillin argued at the comment with a scowl.

"Yeah, okay, I'm sorry. Honestly, I've just, always wanted to say that," she told him with a cheesy grin.

"Ha Ha! You're so funny," he frowned at her, his sarcasm obvious. Yamcha just shook his head.

"Actually, Rin's right. Let's go check this place out," he encouraged, so they all began moving forward in a group.

"Man, what a battle this must have been!" Yamcha declared, as they skirted through the rubble. "Look at all these Saiyans! Too bad we missed all the action," he lamented.

"Maybe you're right. Mr. Popo must have been off on his calculations. It's over," Tien confessed to Rinka. She glanced up at him in surprise. Never thought she'd hear _him_ admit she was right about something.

"There's bound to be a few Saiyans left. We'll just look around until we find 'um," Yamcha offered.

"Agreed," Tien nodded.

"I think we'd better stay together. In case we run into any trouble out here," Tien suggested.

"Of course! That's horror movie one-o-one! Someone always dies whenever they try and split up," Rinka offered.

"This isn't a movie! Or a game!" Tien snapped at her.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean we can't learn something from other people's mistakes," she reasoned.

"I – suppose that's a fair point," he mumbled, which caused Rinka face to crack into a huge smile. She was two for two with him today! "Just – everyone needs to stay sharp," he ordered.

"You don't have to worry about me. I can take on a Saiyan with my hands tied behind my back!" Yamcha boasted.

"How're you supposed ta fight with no hands?" Rinka mock-wondered, cocking her head up at him.

"I'll kick 'im in the teeth," he shot back without missing a beat. Guess that wasn't the first time someone had asked him that.

"We might as well go back," Tien finally decided, after they'd been walking for a good while. "I don't think we're going to find any action here."

"But, how do we _get_ back?" Krillin asked.

"Good point. Mr. Popo didn't tell us that," he realized.

"Hey! Maybe they're too scared to come out and fight us?" Yamcha mocked. Chiaotzu suddenly saw something that caught his attention, and he began to wander off.

"I don't think so, and if you met the Saiyan Goku and Piccolo fought, you wouldn't think so, either," Krillin argued.

"That's true. Raditz didn't really seem like the type to back down from a challenge," Rinka agreed.

"Wait, you remember his name?" Yamcha wondered.

"Well, yeah. I mean – he _was_ my uncle, after all," she reminded them.

"Are you sure he was telling the truth about that?" Krillin questioned her.

"I guess. . . not 100 percent sure, but – why would he lie about something like that? I mean, what would he possibly have to gain?" she reasoned.

"Maybe he thought Goku would be more willing to do what he said that way?" Krillin suggested.

Rinka just shrugged. If Raditz had really put that much stock into family, she had a suspicion that he wouldn't have been so quick to be willing to kill his own brother. It made more sense to her that he'd actually been telling the truth.

A sudden beeping brought all their attention to where Chiaotzu was. He was currently leaning in through a broken window to get a better look at the contents inside. The equipment mysteriously coming to life seemed to have startled him.

"Chiaotzu! Let's go!" Tien ordered him back.

"Right, uh–" They heard him say, and so turned to leave.

However, a second later, they all whipped back around at the sound of an explosion and him shouting in fear! They gasped at the sight of a Saiyan warrior emerging from the dilapidated building, Chiaotzu's head painfully clutched in his left hand.

"Tien! Help me!" he cried in pain and terror.

"Chiaotzu!" Tien yelled back.

"Ow! Let me go!" Chiaotzu hollered at the hulking ogre, struggling with all his might to get free.

Tien immediately leapt into action, charging up an energy blast that never had a chance to hit anything. Because at that moment, another Saiyan appeared and suddenly attacked! He launched his own Ki blast in Tien's direction, blasting him backwards in a powerful explosion. It was everything the others could do to get out of the way in time!

"Let me go! Let me go!" Chiaotzu was still screaming, until. . .

There was a sickening crack, and he fell silent and still.

"Chiaotzu!" Tien screamed again. That's when Rinka realized with horror – that monster had crushed his head!

At that point, there was nothing they could do but watch as the brute casually lobbed Chiaotzu's lifeless body out of sight and into a nearby pile of rubble.

"Chiaotzu!" They all yelled again, but it was already too late. Tien turned back to their attackers with a growl, looking absolutely furious!

"What? Did I do something to tick you off?" The big guy asked in a mocking tone.

He didn't need any further prompting. Tien took off like a rocket towards the surly pair with murder in his eyes. Out for revenge for his fallen friend.

"Watch it, Tien! They're fast!" Krillin hollered out a warning, but it didn't look like he was listening at the moment.

Tien attempted several strikes against Chiaotzu's killer, all of which he seemed to be able to expertly dodge with little effort. This went on until he finally decided to retaliate, smacking Tien across the neck and throwing him back towards the shorter Saiyan. This guy followed up with a devastating blow to Tien's spine. He attempted to counter, but the shorter Saiyan was still too fast, being able to get behind him and pull Tien into a headlock!

"Hey there. Were you looking for a fight?" the guy sneered.

Rinka, having been a little slow on the uptake, finally snapped to attention, trying to go after the guy who had a hold of Tien. She didn't get far, however, before the larger one appeared in her path, swatting her back as though she were nothing more than a pesky insect! Krillin caught her before she could hit anything.

"Rinka!" he cried in alarm.

"I'm fine," she quickly assured him, shaking her head to clear the ringing.

Yamcha had taken a fighting stance. Rinka could feel his power rising, as he began gathering energy in his uplifted hand.

"Come on! Come on!" he was mumbling to himself, until the energy suddenly became visible and was glowing in between his fingers. "Yes!" he called in triumph!

A second later, he lobbed the Ki ball at the Saiyans, using additional energy to control it's trajectory. They were distracted by the glowing orb just long enough for Tien to deliver a headbutt to the guy holding him, successfully getting free. This all just before Yamcha directed his attack back down at them, violently exploding when it hit the space right in between where they were standing.

"Yeah!" Yamcha cheered at his successful strike. Unfortunately, this joy was short-lived. For, as soon as the dust settled, it revealed that the two aliens were not only still alive, but also completely unharmed.

"Nice shot. That tickled," the smaller one mock-praised, leaving Yamcha in a state of complete shock.

However, Tien wasted no time in retaliating, bringing his hands together to charge up an attack of his own.

"Rin, we gotta help!" Krillin shouted at her, and she nodded, leaping back to her feet.

Both of them gathered energy as quickly as they could, firing beams of Ki alongside Tien to hit them with a combined triple shot of power! They then stood, glaring at the spot, keeping poised for whatever else the Saiyans might try to throw at them. Yet this time, when the dust settled, there was nothing where they had been standing before, except for a gaping hole. The guys relaxed a bit and moved over to check it out.

"Looks like we did it," Yamcha surmised.

"Those guys were tough," Tien commented.

"No kidding!" Krillin agreed.

"Poor Chiaotzu didn't even have a chance," Yamcha lamented.

Rinka trotted along to catch up to them, stopping next to Krillin as he nervously peered down the hole.

"A-are you _sure_ it's over?" she asked in a worried tone. After watching everything that Piccolo and her father had to go through to beat just one of these guys, she had a hard time believing that it had been that easy.

There was the sudden sound of maniacal laughter reverberating all around them, and causing them all to visibly flinch!

"Ah man! You had ta ask, didn't ya?!" Krillin snapped at her.

They all glanced around nervously as it continued. The echoing making it hard to determine exactly where the sound was coming from. Krillin began backing away, only for one of them to suddenly leap into the air, vanishing again just as quickly.

"He disappeared!" Tien exclaimed.

Unfortunately, this served as the perfect distraction. Because an instant later, there was a loud crash as a hand burst out of the floor right underneath Krillin, latching onto his ankle and yanking him down into the newly formed hole! He yelled in surprise as he was dragged out of sight.

"Oh, _no_ you don't!"

Her reflexes now on a serious edge, Rinka wasted no time reacting to the sneak attack. She was immediately at the hole, her hand reaching down milliseconds after Krillin's had disappeared. Her fingers clamped down hard around his wrist, and she hoisted with all her strength in the opposite direction, successfully wrenching him back up and out through the floor.

She then took to the air, repositioning her stunned friend onto her back, where he instinctively latched onto her, looking shaken, but unharmed. It was clear that he'd lost a boot in the process, which was probably how she'd successfully wrestled him out of the monster's grip. A small price to pay, all things considered.

"Ah! Rin?" he wondered in surprise, his mind finally able to catch up with his body. "Uh! Thank you! Thank you!" he praised, bleary-eyed and gripped her even tighter.

"Don't thank me just yet," she warned, but still smiled at him over her shoulder. "This is far from finished!" she reluctantly reminded him.

"What are they – immortal?!" They heard Tien demand with rage below them.

"I don't think so! They're just super strong, and if we don't watch it, they're gonna try and get us again while we're not looking!" Yamcha warned.

Those were Rinka thoughts exactly! Which is why she decided to remain in the air, thinking it could help provide a buffer against any more surprise attacks. After all, they'd have to reveal themselves before they'd be able to reach them, however brief such a window might be. . .

A sudden shout brought their attention back to the floor below them. An instant later, a massive beam of energy exploded from the ground, aimed directly at their current location! Rinka only had a fraction of a second to react! Unfortunately, her timing was not quite good enough.

While she managed to zoom back, avoiding the primary bulk of the damage, her lack of speed meant she couldn't get completely out of the way in time. This being made obvious, when a second later, she experienced a massive wave of pain, searing from the lower part of her right leg and foot! She couldn't help but let out a scream of agony, and looked down to find that the appendage had been badly burned from coming in contact with the attack, even if it was only for a moment.

"Rin!" All three of the guys cried out in alarm!

She began panting heavily and wobbling in the air as her head began to swim. However, she did her absolute best to grit her teeth against the horrible sensation, and hang tough! She couldn't afford to lose her composure now. Not if she wanted to survive, and especially not if she wanted to continue to keep Krillin safe. . .

Krillin, on the other hand, had other ideas. He attempted to switch positions with her, flying on his own and trying to hold her up instead. Yet, Rinka continued to keep a firm grip on him.

"Rin, your leg!" he called out desperately.

"I'm okay. I'm okay," she responded hurriedly. Although it seemed more like she was trying to convince herself of it than him, fighting with everything she had to keep tears from streaming down her face!

She didn't have the strength to continue to maintain her hold, and he was able to wrestle away, repositioning her in his arms.

"Let me help!" he insisted. She never got the chance to argue.

Meanwhile, the guys on the ground breathed a small sigh to see them out of immediate danger.

"I don't care what happens anymore! I just wanna beat those guys!" Tien declared.

An instant later, the taller of the Saiyans suddenly manifested in front of them.

"You should never have come here! No one comes to Vegeta!" he told them.

"He's right," the shorter one added, appearing next to his cohort. "We try to discourage tourism here," he added casually.

Yamcha growled, and began charging up power in his hand for another attack.

"Hey! My grandmother can gather energy faster than that!" the shorter one mocked, before they vanished again. "But don't feel bad! She's one tough cookie!" They could still hear him call from down the now massive hole. Both Saiyans belted out creepy, echoing laughter at the comment, before then reappearing once again just a bit of a ways off from Tien and Yamcha on the ground. The four of them seemed to be about to have a serious face off!

"Alright, Yamcha. Let's give it everything we've got!" Tien encouraged at they took battle-ready stances. The Saiyans just chuckling menacingly.

"Multi-Form!" Tien announced, splitting himself into several separate bodies.

"Spirit Ball!" Yamcha followed up, concentrating his energy into his signature sphere.

The Saiyans began glancing around at all the Tiens now surrounding them. Each of the Tiens concentrating an attack towards the two, trying to keep them corralled in the center of the room.

Yamcha then released his energy. However, they were able to easily dodge the first pass. Yamcha wasted no time in redirecting the ball, controlling it so it kept right on their tails. In retaliation, the Saiyans began punching their way through the roof the structure to try and give themselves more maneuvering room.

This resulted the the ceiling collapsing down around everyone. Killing having to dodge to keep from getting hit by any falling debris. Meanwhile, Yamcha brought the ball down and around, detonating it with impressive effect on top of the Saiyans!

After the dust settled, the two relaxed their guard, obviously assuming that this wave of attacks had done the trick.

"Ha ha! They did it!" Krillin cheered. So it seemed, so why did Rinka still feel so uneasy? She shivered, but whether it was from pain or paranoia, she couldn't tell.

"Man! That was horrible!" Yamcha lamented, still panting from exertion. "Those two guys were monsters, not men!"

"Yes, they were," Tien agreed.

But the celebration was short-lived, for before both the men even had a chance to catch their breath, they suddenly yelled out in surprise as the ground rumbled beneath them. And a second later, it was made painfully obvious that the monsters still had yet to be vanquished! They began to attack the two with renewed ferocity!

Rinka let out her own cry of despair, and wrenched herself around in Krillin's arms in alarm! He fumbled her around in surprise at the unexpected jolting.

Down below, the Saiyans had smashed both Yamcha and Tien into the air, only to slam them back to the ground an instant later with equal brutality! What happened next, all seemed to occur in the blink of an eye!

The Saiyans both unleashed powerful beams of energy, directly at the two stunned warriors, with obvious intent to kill! Sensing this, Rinka managed to rip herself away from Krillin, succeeding in putting herself between the beams and their intended targets, right before they were about to strike!

"Rin! NO!" Krillin howled in shock and terror at what was clearly about to happen!

Rinka did what she could to generate a shield in the tiniest of windows before the attacks hit! Unfortunately, it did little good. The force-field only held for maybe a moment. One last moment, before the deadly energy attacks ripped straight through it – and then ultimately – straight through her!

The girl's small, vulnerable body did not last long under the savage assault, tearing to pieces in a gruesome display of rending flesh and blood! And just like that, it was over practically as quickly as it had begun, what was left of her body splattering to the ground. The three warriors who remained could only stare down with looks of absolute horror at the sight!

However, they did not have long to process this grievous turn of events, as the Saiyans, now apparently tired of toying with their _painfully_ inferior opponents, immediately resumed their attack! Making quick work of the still present warriors in a similarly savage fashion, their agonizing screams echoing throughout what remained of the cavern. . .

Rinka awoke to the sound of ticking, pricking at the back of her mind. She opened her eyes and stumbled a bit when she realized that she was currently standing up! Her hands immediately flew to her hammering heart, and she quickly glanced down at her body to find that she was miraculously still in one piece! _What._ . .? _How._ . .? Her foggy brain was having trouble comprehending what was going on!

"Yajirobe?" she heard Tien grunt out near her in confusion. "Mr. Popo! Kami!" he seemed to acknowledge in realization.

Rinka peered around to find that they were indeed, currently standing in the room with them. She then turned to discover the others were also present, and appeared to all be safe and sound. Yamcha reached up to grope at his face in astonishment.

"I'm alive!" he realized in surprise.

As the others began glancing around the room, Rinka could take solace in the fact that she wasn't the only one feeling bewildered!

"Chiaotzu!" Tien called in pleasure at seeing his best friend standing next to him unharmed.

Meanwhile, Krillin didn't say anything as he gazed down at Rinka with an expression of immense relief on his face! Rinka, still not really knowing how to react, could only stare back, before he suddenly grabbed her and yanked her into him. He let out a long sigh a moment later.

"How – how did we get here?!" He wondered in the direction of their present company.

"You never left here!" Yajirobe hollered in response, sounding rather put out. "You've all been just standing around like a bunch of zombies!" he snapped.

Rinka jumped at the sudden declaration, pulling out of Krillin's arms to turn and stare at him in surprise. What did he mean, 'they never left'?

"Only your physical bodies remained here. With the help of this room, your spirits made 'dream bodies', which they used to travel to the dream-like past," Mr. Popo explained, again, still not really making all that much sense!

During this time, Tien began to look increasingly agitated. Clenching his hands into fists, while his expression slowly contorting with anger.

"So, you guys. How did it go?" Yajirobe wondered, stepping over towards the group.

"Not at all like it should have!" Tien finally snapped at the question, causing them all to jump.

"Rinka!" he then barked out, whipping around to glare at the now startled girl. She stared up at him with a perplexed expression. "What on earth were you thinking?! Why would you _do_ something like that!?" he roared with rage!

Meanwhile, Rinka began shivering in shock at the sudden verbal assault! She was so taken aback at the unexpected outburst, that she didn't know how to respond at first!

"I – I didn't. . . there wasn't time to–" she finally managed to stutter out after a moment. However, the irate warrior didn't give her a chance to finish.

"Don't you _ever_ do anything like that again! Do I make myself clear?!" he demanded, the sternness in his gaze not faltering in the slightest.

"Whoa! Calm down, Tien! She was only trying to help," Krillin attempted to reason, but it was clear that he was not having it!

"That is _not_ her place!" he lectured harshly, silencing any further protests. A long, awkward silence stretched – before it was ultimately broken by Kami.

"Perhaps not from your perspective. Although, regardless of her rash behavior, Rinka's instinctive reactions to the situation have demonstrated her, evidently, _protective_ nature. This is actually a very good example that we should all learn from. After all, isn't that what the true purpose of learning martial arts should be? Despite what Mr. Popo told you all before about knowledge being the key to true power, it is not complete without this final lesson: When a person has something important they want to protect – that is when they can become _truly_ strong," Kami explained to them, smiling down at Rinka.

Even though she still felt a bit shaken, she managed to return the smile. His words helping her to feel a bit better about things. However, Tien just made a _tch_ sound at Kami's words, and continued to glower at the ground.

"Okay. . ." Yajirobe trailed, not understanding what any of that had been about. "But that doesn't really explain how y'all did," he pointed out.

"They did very well, Yajirobe. They all fought valiantly against a very strong enemy," Kami informed him. However, no one seemed to want to take credit for that praise. "I should mention to you all, that the Saiyans on their way to Earth are twice as strong as the ones you just fought," he told them – that addition being quite the bombshell!

Rinka felt her blood run cold at the disturbing revelation! They had cut through her shield like it was made of paper! There was no way! They wouldn't stand a chance! A similar panic seemed to have shot through the rest of the room. Chiaotzu sounded like he was about to cry, and Krillin began shaking with fear right next to her! She was sure they were all thinking the same thing that she was! They were screwed!

"Twice as strong!?" Yamcha exclaimed in dismay. "Are you sure about that, Kami?" he asked. Kami looked grim as he nodded his affirmation.

"I can certainly understand if any of you want to back out of this deal," Kami offered after a moment. "Believe me, there would be no dishonor in doing so," he assured them.

_Well, that's easy for him to say_! Rinka thought, as she cast a wary glance over towards Tien.

"But if you must leave, go now, because there will be no looking back for those of you who will remain after today," he continued forebodingly.

There was a long moment of contemplative silence. For a while, nobody moved. Until a surprising sound suddenly reached their ears. Laughing? Rinka turned to see that it was Yamcha laughing! _Has he gone crazy or something_? She wondered.

"Wouldn't miss it!" he finally exclaimed with determination. Oh, guess he was just being cocky again, she realized.

Tien only nodded in affirmation.

"I'm in." Chiaotzu chimed when he saw this.

"Me too!" Krillin announced, now looking as though he were ready for anything.

There was another pause in the conversation. That was when Rinka realized that all eyes were now on her.

"Well, Rin?" Krillin questioned, looking at her expectantly.

Rinka just flashed him a skeptical glance. Did he _really_ need to ask? After all the work, and everything she went through to get here? Not to mention that her brother was already guaranteed to be a part of this, whether they liked it or not! Of course there was _no way_ she'd even consider backing out now!

"I'm not going anywhere!" she announced, narrowing her eyes at them all.

"It's settled then!" Yamcha decided "We'll spend twenty four hours a day in this room if we have to. We'll beat those Saiyans!" he encouraged, both Krillin and Chiaotzu looking pumped at his words.

Tien, however, looked solemn as he stepped away from the group. He paused for a moment, casting a doubtful glance back at Rinka before facing away from them again.

"I'm not going to argue about it, but for the record, I still stand by what I originally said," he finally stated, continuing the earlier debate against the half-Saiyan girl's presence. "You really shouldn't be here," he finished, his heavy footfalls echoing around them as he marched from the room.

Soon after, Chiaotzu took one quick look over at Rinka, before quickly following behind his friend. "Wait up, Tien!" he called.

Not knowing what else to make of this, Rinka could only assume he must be embarrassed at having her attempt to defend him! Whether it was because she was a child, or because she was a girl, she couldn't be sure. Either way, the comments really made an impact, making her feel both foolish and inferior! She let out a small grunt of dismay and lowered her gaze to the floor, biting her lip to keep the tears that threaten to flow from forming.

Yamcha and the others obviously noticed, because they all gave her sympathetic looks.

"Hey, don't worry about Tien, okay? That guy is pretty hard to read," he reassured her.

"Y-yeah! It's not easy getting to know him at first, but I'm sure he'll come around," Krillin added.

"Besides, no one can argue with the fact that you did real good today! I mean, we all would've died even sooner if it hadn't been for you!" Yamcha pointed out, actually sounding legitimately impressed.

Rinka smiled up at him at the complement. "Thanks Yamcha," she told him sincerely.

"True, but uh. . ." Krillin hesitated for a moment. "Maybe next time, don't be so quick to sacrifice yourself?" he suggested. "After all, what would Goku say if we let anything happen to you?" he grinned, obviously taking a stab at humor to try and lighten the mood.

However, Rinka's countenance fell at bit at hearing that. _Right, what would Goku think_? She repeated in her head, turning back towards the direction that Tien had gone. She signed as she contemplated what he'd said to her.

_You really shouldn't be here.  
__It's not your place._

If her place wasn't here, then where did he think it was supposed to be? At home playing with dolls like Piccolo had suggested? So much for the respect she'd thought she'd earned from him today. Once again it felt like one step forward, two steps back. Only time would tell if the other's words ever proved to be true.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think Tien really means? Let me know in the comments below! Lol :P**


	9. Life on the Lookout

**Just a bit of fun filler that may or may not be relevant to later events in the story. ;)**

* * *

So, once again, training continued. They did indeed spend quite a bit of time in the Pendulum Room. The seriousness of it easing away now that they knew whatever happened in there wasn't permanent. True to his word, Tien did not attempt to argue about Rinka's participation in the room. She, however, did her best to stay out of his way whenever possible, only assisting when instructed and saving full involvement if he happened to fall in battle during a particular round.

When not in training, Rinka continued to find herself on her own a lot. Knowing that she was going to seriously have to step up her game if she ever hoped to keep up with the guys, let alone be strong enough to make a difference in this fight, she decided to make a trip to visit Bulma. She figured that the young scientist could help her come up with a way to help kick the training into overdrive!

She began to frequently disappear from the Lookout, no one really knowing for sure where she was going, and no one bothering to ask, at first. It was one particular evening that Krillin saw her wandering to the edge of their temporary home that he finally stopped her. Although, what he didn't know was that she'd actually had other plans for that night versus making her usual trip to Capsule Corp.

"Hey, Rin. Where are you off to?" he wondered. She flipped around and smiled at him.

"Just down to Korin's," she mentioned casually.

"Yeah, what cha doing down there?" he asked, crossing his arms with an incredulous look.

"We were gonna hanging out. He wanted to try the newest JarioKart, and I told him I'd play it with him," she explained, indicating her backpack.

"Wait. I thought your mom didn't let you play games on your computer?" he questioned.

"What my mom doesn't know won't kill her," Rinka grinned at him with a shrug. "Would you, maybe – like to come play too?" she offered, feeling a little hesitant.

She wasn't sure if Krillin would be at all interested in video games, but she supposed it didn't hurt to ask. To her surprise, he actually smiled and nodded.

"Sure, why not? That sounds like fun," he confessed, moving over to stand next to her. Rinka was about to continue, when they were suddenly interrupted by a voice coming from behind one of the nearby trees.

"What? Someone's got games?" It was Yajirobe. He heaved himself up off the ground and moseyed over to them. "If you're gonna play, I want in!" he declared.

Krillin thought for sure that Rinka would get annoyed at the intrusion. However, she surprised him by flashing Yajirobe a big smile.

"Great! Then we'll have a full set of four! Let's go! I don't wanna keep Korin waiting!" she cheered, and the guys followed her down to Korin's pad.

It only took a couple of minutes for Rinka to get everything set up. Korin didn't have a super huge TV, but it would be alright as long as they all sat relatively close. Rinka plopped down on the ground on the far left, naturally taking the player one position. She patted the ground next to her while eyeing Krillin, indicating he should sit too. So, he plopped down and she passed him the player two controller, Yajirobe and Korin joining on the other end with the remaining controllers.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Krillin wondered skeptically.

"I – _may_ have talked my grandpa into getting the controllers," she confessed quietly, looking sheepish. Krillin raised an eyebrow at her. "But, mom got me the laptop all on her own when I told her I was interested in computer science!" she added quickly.

"Uh huh" he smiled slyly.

"So what'er you doing up here training with us if you wanna be an egg head?" Yajirobe wondered at her.

"Ummm, the world is in danger? Or perhaps you didn't notice," Rinka teased in a mock-lecture. "No point in worrying about what I'm gonna do for a living if I don't live long enough to grow up!" she reasoned. "Besides, just because I'm interested in computers doesn't mean I don't like fighting."

"Really? You actually like to fight?" Krillin asked.

"Yeah! Battle's in my blood!" she joked in a stern tone.

"Apparently even more than we originally thought," Korin added. "It's no wonder you were able to climb the tower so fast."

"I didn't want to miss anything!" she pointed out. "Hey, maybe after this we can play some Super Smash Boys!" she suggested, moving from the title screen to the character select screen.

"So, how do we do this?" Krillin cast a quizzical glance down at the controller he was holding.

"It's easy. Hold down A button to go, B button is stop, and you press the trigger to use items, and of course, you steer with the control stick," Rinka explained.

"I've been practicing my motor skills. You all are about to eat my dust!" Korin boasted.

"Yeah? We'll just see about that!" Yajirobe shot back.

Rinka didn't really care about winning or losing. She was just feeling happy to have someone to play with, especially Krillin! Before, she had been continually getting the impression that he was only being nice and humoring her for her father's sake. However, as more time passed, he seemed to be warming up to her as her own person. Why else would he agree to come play video games, otherwise? She hoped that meant they were getting closer to becoming actual friends.

She spent the next several hours focusing on helping Krillin get better at the game, versus worrying about her own playing. He had a little trouble with what items did what, at first, but he eventually even ended up winning a couple of races, which he seemed to be pretty pleased about. In fact, everyone was in a pretty good mood by the time they decided to call it a night.

Rinka repacked everything into her backpack before following the guys back up and into Kami's palace, all the way until they turned to head into their sleeping quarters. The other guys were headed in as well, appearing as though they were also ready for bed. She paused and watched them with a longing look.

"Um, well, goodnight guys," she offered meekly before they made it into the room. Rinka then turned to return to her lonely corner.

"Wait, Rin?" she suddenly heard behind her. She turned to see Krillin staring at her, his brow furrowed in concern. "Did you, maybe – wanna move your bedroll back in here with, with us?" he offered with a small smile.

"I –" she started, glancing around at the others to try and gauge their reactions to the idea. She couldn't read them one way or the other, so she decided to err on the side of caution. "It's okay. You don't have to worry about it," she answered.

"Okay. . . but that didn't really answer my question. . . What's wrong? Nobody's mad at you anymore, and you seemed fine with it before?" he reasoned.

"Yeah, but – I don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable," she argued back, staring at the floor.

"What? Who said you were making them uncomfortable?" Krillin wondered with confusion. Everyone was staring at her now. She shuffled awkwardly under their scrutinizing gazes.

"Um, Yamcha said, before, that it's hard to relax when I'm around?" she reminded them with an unsure air. She was pretty positive she hadn't misheard him.

"What?! I didn't. . ." Yamcha attempted to protest, but then thought about it for a moment. "Oh, I guess I did say that, but I didn't mean it like. . . ugh! Have you been sleeping all alone this whole time just because of that?" he surmised.

"Well. . ."

Rinka found herself glancing over towards Tien. Honestly it wasn't _just_ because of that, but it had been a big part of why she'd decided to move her bedroll in the first place. Of course she wanted to move back! She'd been feeling super left out and lonely because of it, but not if she was just going to get glared at the whole time! She didn't want to be where she wasn't welcome! But she was going to have to say something, they were still waiting for an answer.

"I – I don't wanna be a bother," she mumbled, still keeping her gaze fixed to the floor. Yamcha groaned again.

"Jeeze kid! Just move your bedroll back already! You're not a bother, and you're not making anyone uncomfortable! This right here," Yamcha motioned at her. "this is worse," he admitted.

"Wh-What is worse?" Rinka asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Why don't you just throw a fit when you're upset like other girls?" he wondered. Rinka just blinked at him.

"I'm – not like other girls?" Her statement came out more like a suggestion.

"Boy, ain't that the truth!" he exclaimed, motioning for her to follow him as he moved away from the sleeping quarters. "Come on, let's get your roll," he told her. So, she showed him where she'd been keeping it.

"So, why do you care so much about what I think, anyway?" he asked, throwing the roll over his shoulder.

"I. . ." Rinka trailed, pondering over the rationalization for a moment, while trying to interpret her feelings into words. "I want you to like me?" she offered unsurely. She thought Krillin had explained things to them, which was why they'd allowed her to stay in the first place. "I haven't really had an opportunity to make any friends before now," she added in a mutter. Yamcha grinned down at her.

"Okay, I get that, but Bulma doesn't usually seem to give a damn about what I think, and we're still friends," he pointed out.

"Well, she doesn't sound like a very _good_ friend, then," Rinka mentioned with a frown of confusion. To her surprise, Yamcha laughed out loud at the comment.

"You know, kid? You may be right," he studied her for a moment. "You're pretty smart for your age," he decided.

Rinka shrugged. "Probably all the studying," she reasoned.

"So, I'm guessing you want Tien to like to too? Is that why you didn't try and argue when he yelled at you before?" he wondered. Rinka nodded sadly. "In that case, let me give you some advice." Yamcha squatted down so that he was at eye level with her. "If you wanna get on Tien's good side, be nice to Chiaotzu," he offered.

Rinka nodded again that she understood. That did make a lot of sense, after all. Yamcha smiled again.

"Not sure if it's worth your time, trying to be friends with schmucks like us, but if it's really that important to ya, you can put me on your list," he assured her.

Rinka felt her face flush as she smiled shyly at the ground. "Thanks Yamcha," she murmured.

"No problem. Now, let's get to bed," he suggested, heading towards the sleeping quarters, Rinka right on his heels.

She cast a wary side glance at Tien when they entered. He met her gaze for a moment, but didn't object to her presence, so she took it as him probably being okay with her sleeping there? He was tolerant, if nothing else. Yamcha moved to the side of the room, and spread her bedroll out in between Krillin and what she assumed was his, as it was the only one unoccupied.

"There. Does that work for you?" he asked in a humorous manner. Rinka grinned.

"It's perfect," she assured him, dropping her bag at the end of the bed. Krillin flashed her a reassuring smile as she climbed under her blankets next to him. A moment later, they turned out the lights and settled down for the night.

Sleeping in the room with the guys was pretty close to the equivalent of trying to sleep in an actual saw mill! However, not only did Rinka not mind, this had been the most relaxed she felt since first arriving there. There was just something therapeutic about having company while you slept, especially being so far away from home! Needless to say, she ended up sleeping very well that night.

. . .

Free sparing days ended up being Rinka's favorite out of all the different types of training they did. Definitely a vast improvement over getting destroyed over and over again by the same two arrogant and obnoxious Saiyans! Plus, it gave her a chance to have some one on one time with Krillin, which she wasn't going to pretend that she didn't enjoy, even if it was in the form of attempting to physically maim each other.

As such, it was during once particular session that Krillin managed to land a lucky blow against Rinka, sending her spiraling down to the tile below. A moment later, she picked herself up off the ground, looking only mildly irritated as she brushed her clothes off. Krillin trotted over next to her, giving her a concerned expression.

"Rin, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, that was less graceful than I was hoping," she mumbled, tapping her shoes against the ground. Krillin cocked his head at her, as if studying the girl. Rinka felt the gaze and looked up to meet it. She frowned at him. "What?" she wondered.

"Well, its just –" he paused for a moment, as if unsure on how to continue. "I don't wanna sound discouraging, but – it doesn't seem like you're getting any stronger," he pointed out hesitantly. "But I don't get why, cuz I know how hard you've been working," he added quickly, as if he were worried that she was going to get upset.

Rinka hummed as she pondered this. "I guess it has been a while since I tested my strength with my weights off," she mused.

Krillin deadpanned for a moment. "Weights? What weights?" he asked in confusion. She didn't appear to be wearing any weighted clothing that he could see.

"These weights," she stated, taking a seat and pulling up her pant legs, revealing the leg weights that she had firmly strapped around each of her calves.

"Oh, so you decided to do some weight training after all," he said with a knowing smile. "How long have you been wearing those?"

"For a while now. I realized pretty quickly that I'd have to step up my game if I wanted to keep up with you guys, so I asked Bulma about it and she made these for me. I've had her increase the weight every time I feel like I'm getting used to it," Rinka explained. She undid the wrappings and hoisted them up, grunting with the exertion.

"So, that's where you've been sneaking off to," Krillin realized.

Rinka smiled at him. "I wasn't _trying_ to be sneaky about it."

She gestured with the weights, indicating she wanted him to take them. He complied and she plopped them into his arms. Krillin looked shocked for a moment as he staggered under the unexpected weight, almost completely losing his balance.

"Holy cow! How much do these things weigh?" he asked in a strained tone. He readjusted to get a better grip on them.

"Uh – I think I'm up to 200 pounds," she answered nonchalantly. He looked surprised by that. "Each," she then added with a big grin. His eyes got even wider.

"You've gotta be kidding!" he exclaimed. "How. . . This is heavier than what we're using!" He indicated the weighted shirt that Kami had provided for them. "Don't you think this is just a little overkill?"

"I told you. I want to be able to keep up with you. Plus the world is sort of in danger, right? I don't think there is such a thing as overkill," she decided.

"What's overkill?" Yamcha asked as he meandered over to join them.

"Rinka's training," Krillin huffed. "She's been wearing these." He juggled the weights in his arms.

"Leg weights, huh? What's wrong with that?" he wondered at Krillin.

"Feel them," Krillin insisted. He shifted his weight and lobbed them towards Yamcha, who was not at all prepared. They watched his face change to a look of panic as he realized he wasn't going to be able to hang on to them and spilled them onto the floor with a couple of loud thunks.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, bending over and hoisting one up to test it's weight. "You were wearing _these_?" he asked.

"Yep." Rinka gave an experimental hop. She sailed much higher off the ground than she'd been expecting with so little effort. "Whoa, I feel like I'm made of cotton!" she cheered happily. "You wanna try sparring now?" she asked Krillin, giving him a sly smirk.

He looked a bit hesitant at first, but eventually decided to give in. "Alright, let's see what you got." He took a fighting stance. Rinka responded in turn.

"Okay!" Yamcha chimed in, sounding excited at the prospect. He moved in between them as if he were a referee. "Ready! Set! G-"

He didn't even get a chance to finish before Rinka took off like a rocket! She was moving so fast that she actually surprised herself, and almost overshot her opponent! Krillin tried to put up a defense, but was stunned by her sudden speed. Rinka lobbed a fist towards his head, but despite the fact that there was no way for Krillin to dodge in time, she didn't actually connect.

Krillin felt the wind whip past his face from the force of the blow. He quickly turned in the direction he felt her come from, but she had already circled around to his other side.

She came at him again, this time with a kick. Rinka felt almost, shocked, at how quickly she was moving. It was as if Krillin were reacting in slow motion. Her leg whizzed over his head, just barely missing him. But once again, he turned in response to the rush of air. Rinka didn't really _want_ to hurt him. She kept expecting him to block, however it seemed that even he was rattled by her sudden increase in speed.

Rinka thought about it for a moment, and a devious realization dawned on her. This would be a great opportunity to mess with him! A little, anyway. So, continuing her charade of near-hits, Rinka focused all of her attention on increasing her speed even further. She then hit him with a volley of 'air' attacks, creating a bombardment of wind that battered him on all sides.

To Krillin, it felt like he was in the middle of a tornado! Wind currents were whipping him around in all directions to the point where he was finding it difficult just to stay on his feet. He couldn't seem to tell where Rinka was, her speed was incredible! All he could do was defend and wait for her to land an actual blow.

And land a blow she did. After a minute, Rinka finally stopped with her onslaught. She was able to position herself directly under him, and before he had a chance to react, she delivered a swift kick right to the bottom of his chin.

Caught off guard by this, Krillin was immediately sent flying. He hung in the air for a second, still trying to recover from the surprise of the impact, but Rinka didn't give him a chance. She quickly charged up a ball of energy in her hands, before releasing it all in a powerful beam directly at Krillin. She did this knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

So, in another display of freakish speed, Rinka was able to out-fly her own energy attack, collide with Krillin in the air, and push him out of the way before it could hit. She glanced up at him to see that he was watching as the beam dissipated harmlessly into the atmosphere. He seemed to let out a breath he had been holding, and peered down to see that she had her arms wrapped around his torso. He fixed her with a hard look.

"Jeeze, kid! I thought we were just gonna have a friendly sparring match?" he lectured lightly.

"Yeah. Originally," she mumbled into him, adverting her gaze.

"You mean, until you decided to show off?" he guessed with a smirk.

Rinka's face cracked into a huge grin. "Maaaaaybe," she dragged out the word.

"I could have blocked that attack, ya know?" he muttered.

"Well, I wasn't sure. Plus, that kinda would have defeated the point. . ." she trailed.

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her as well. "Come on, let's head back down. I bet Yamcha's wondering what the heck just happened!" He indeed was sporting a rather bewildered expression when they landed back on the Lookout's tile next to him.

"Jeeze, Rin! That was some speed! I was having a heck of a time follow your movements!" he exclaimed. "And I don't think I was the only one," he added with a smirk in Krillin's direction.

"She just caught me off guard, is all," he quickly attempted to defend, absentmindedly plopping a hand down on her head. "I'll be ready for it next time," he assured them both. Rinka turned to eye him with a sly smirk.

"Either way, the next time we go into the pendulum room, you should definitely leave your weights behind. I'll bet at this point, you could probably beat those two goons all on your own!" Yamcha encouraged her with a big grin.

"Sounds like a plan. It'll be interesting to see how well I can do if I go all out," she agreed. "But for now, I'm wiped!" she confessed with a big sigh, feeling relaxed at the sensation of Krillin's palm on her hair. "Think maybe I should take some time to get myself cleaned up," she realized, as she stared down at her sweat stained clothes.

"That's a good idea. The rest of us should still be busy for a while, so nobody'll bother you. You can take your time," Krillin realized.

"Okay, cool. See you guys at dinner," Rinka told them, before heading inside to prepare.

. . .

The bathroom of the Lookout was surprisingly large and elaborate considering the rest of the accommodations were rather average. It was equipped with enough shower heads and a large enough tub that all the guys were able to bathe at the same time. Of course, this was one activity that Rinka had no problem _not_ participating in! Which meant that she would take her baths by herself, naturally.

This never really bothered her, but as time passed, it apparently had begun to cause Chiaotzu some distress. So today, he finally decided to confront her about it as she headed towards the room with a towel and some soap.

"Hey, Rinka? You going to take a bath?" he asked.

"Yep," she nodded, nonchalantly strolling along. He sprinted to keep up with her.

"You want some company?" he wondered with a friendly smile.

Rinka stopped and stared at him in bewilderment. Was he serious? After a moment of studying him, but not witnessing any kind of humor in his demeanor, she realized that he must be.

"Uh, no, that's okay, Chiaotzu. I'm fine," she assured him, attempting to try and laugh off the awkwardness.

However, the little guy didn't seem to pick up on her discomfort at all! He just cocked his head at her in confusion.

"You always take a bath by yourself, so how do you get clean if you have no one to scrub your back for you?" He posed the question as a legitimate concern. Rinka stumbled for a moment, trying to come up with an argument for his logic.

"I – I have a tail, remember? I don't need any help scrubbing my back," she reasoned, realizing that it was actually true. She waved it around in front of her to demonstrate. Chiaotzu glanced at it, but was still frowning.

"But – don't you get lonely? Being in there all alone?" he continued with concern.

Rinka just stared at him for a moment. Did he really not understand how inappropriate it would be for her to take a bath with him, with _any_ of them? How old was this guy? He was around when her father and the others were kids, wasn't he? And yet, he still acted like a little kid himself. What was the deal? She finally just sighed and shook her head. If he still had the mentality of a child, then she couldn't be too hard on him.

"No. I'm good. It's not like I'm in there for very long. Plus, I'm pretty used to being on my own. Don't worry about it," she assured him, before she was finally able to move away from him and into the solitude of the bathroom.

Now that she was alone, Rinka stripped down and left her clothes on the bench near the entrance. She grabbed her towel and soap and moved deeper into the room, positioning herself under the shower head nearest to the tub and taking a seat on the little, golden stool. In fact, the majority of the furnishings were adorned in gold. She didn't know if it was real or not, but it certainly caused the room have a very warm and fancy lighting effect. She hummed to herself as she let the shower water run over her, wanting to get thoroughly soaked before she began scrubbing.

Several minutes later, Rinka was busy massaging soap into her hair. Between the flowing water and the sound of her hums, she didn't hear the door to the bathroom creak open. Even less so was she alerted to the presence behind her, until they finally spoke.

"Hey Rinka!"

The girl nearly jumped out of her skin, an involuntary shriek escaping her lips! She whirled around to find none other than Chiaotzu standing behind her wearing a big grin and . . . literally nothing else! Her eyes went wide with shock for a moment, before she instinctively dove for her towel, slapping it over her exposed form.

"Chiaotzu?! Wa-What the hell?!" she demanded, rather loudly. Rinka finished wrapping the towel over herself and took a deep breath. She was able to calm down a bit now that she was fully covered. "What are you doing in here?" she asked in a more composed tone.

"I came to help wash your back, and keep you company," he told her, just as casually and innocently as if her were joining her for a round of flower picking!

"I thought I told you I was fine, and I don't need help," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but Tien's told me that sometimes girls are weird. They like to say one thing, but they mean something else," he reasoned. "So, I thought that maybe you secretly really did want company."

Rinka groaned and stared at the ceiling. Technically he wasn't wrong. That was a common trope for most women, after all. While it might not be true for _her_ most of the time, she couldn't deny that she'd already done that once or twice to mask her true feelings since she'd been here.

"Besides, I felt bad that you gotta be in here all alone," he added with a sad face.

She heaved out another long sigh of resignation. He obviously didn't have any kind of malicious intentions, so what harm would it do to let him stay? She'd taken baths with her little brother before. Considering his size, this wouldn't really be all that different. She also couldn't help but be reminded of Yamcha's words to her regarding him. 'If you wanna get on Tien's good side, be nice to Chiaotzu.'

"Alright, fine. If you really want to," she passed him the soap and a wash rag. "Knock yourself out," she turned back around and pulled her towel down a bit, exposing her back to him. He began happily scrubbing with a big grin.

Despite her initial nervousness, Rinka found herself relaxing as Chiaotzu massaged her back with the rag. Okay so, maybe this wasn't all that bad. He was certainly much more gentle than her mother, or even Gohan for that matter! Maybe she should have asked him to take a bath with her sooner? She thought with a grin at the silly notion. After several minutes, he stopped, passing the soap and wash rag up to her over her shoulder.

"Me next!" he cheered excitedly, moving around expectantly to wait for her to get off the stool so that he could sit down.

So, Rinka complied, rising and tucking the towel tightly around her so that it wouldn't fall. She wasn't quite _that_ comfortable, after all. She waited until he'd rinsed himself before methodically running the soap and wash rag over his back. He made a small grunting noise and flinched like he was surprised. Rinka cocked her head and leaned around to look at him.

"Is something wrong?" she wondered. He shook his head.

"Your hands are really soft. Is it because you're a girl?" he asked. Rinka shrugged and resumed her scrubbing with a smile.

"I never thought about it before, but you're probably right," she acknowledged. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Tien always told me that girls are crazy and nothing but trouble, but –" he paused for a moment. "But you don't seem that way. You were kinda mean at first, but since you apologized, you've been really nice. I wish there were more girls like you," he confessed.

Rinka blinked down at him in surprise. That seemed like it came out of nowhere! Despite not understanding what had inspired his comment, she couldn't help but feel touched by it.

"Thank you, Chiaotzu. I, appreciate that," she told him sincerely.

"Okay, I'm ready to rinse," he announced a minute later, rising to finish washing off.

Rinka followed suit, using the next shower head over. They then both took some time to soak in the bath, letting the hot water help ease the aches and pains of training away. After that, it was just a matter of drying off and changing into their sleeping clothes. Chiaotzu was naturally faster than her, not having to worry about drying and restyling a whole head of hair. Therefore, he left the bathroom first.

Several minutes later, Rinka finally emerged to find both Krillin and Yamcha waiting for her. They grinned down at her with mischievous looks.

"You have a nice bath?" Yamcha teased, their grins widening. Rinka just scowled back at them, shaking her head.

"Shut up," she snapped, and attempted to walk past, but Krillin stopped her.

"Aw, come on, Rin. We're only kidding. You two taking a bath together was super cute!" he _attempted_ to assure her.

"Cute? Great. I'll be sure to remember that," she warned him with a smirk, and turned to go. However, she didn't get far before getting interrupted again.

"Hey Rinka," Tien called, getting her attention.

She froze as he walked over to her, a feeling of dismay settling into the pit of her stomach. Why was he stopping her? Was he mad that Chiaotzu had taken a bath with her? She really wasn't looking forward to getting yelled at again.

"So, um, sorry about Chiaotzu. He didn't mean any harm by it. He's just, not used to having to worry about boundaries," he explained to her.

Wait, he was, apologizing to her? Rinka didn't respond for almost a full minute, reeling from the shock. He began to give her a confused look at her silence.

"Oh, uh," she shook her head. "That's okay. I understand," she assured him.

"Also, thanks for not, you know – freaking out on him. I appreciate it," he continued.

Rinka was about to ask him why he'd think she would do that, but then she was reminded of what Chiaotzu had told her in the bathroom. Maybe a 'normal' girl would have?

"S-sure. It's no problem," she replied awkwardly.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure you knew," he informed her, before turning and walking away.

Yamcha smiled at the exchange, stepping up to Rinka after Tien was gone.

"See, told you," he teased lightly, poking her in the forehead. Rinka rubbed at the spot, but instead of getting irritated, just smiled at the floor.

Later that evening, after dinner, Rinka set up her computer in their bedroom so that everyone could watch a movie together. She let the guys pick what they wanted to watch, and even Tien decided to sit in with them. Despite most of the attention being on the entertainment in front of them, several eyes couldn't help but notice how closely Rinka stayed by Krillin throughout the show.


End file.
